Tanabata
by Edward the VIII
Summary: The war ends, and Uzumaki Naruto leads the world as its peacemaker. Uchiha Sasuke however, is drifting without an anchor... or at least he was, until a certain little firecracker came bouncing along. SasuHana, slow build to romance, follows canon up to 698. Minor NaruHina.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is set after the Fourth Shinobi World War. Everything up to this point has proceeded as canon.**

 **There will be romance in this story, but the first arc or two will be simply bonding. Lemons, if there will be any far down the road, will be put on another website for those who wish to view them.**

 **Be sure to leave a review if you like this story, as those will prompt me to write even more stuff like this for you guys, :).**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

He rubbed the skin underneath his eye, a dreary look on his face.

Prison was a boring place. A very, very, _very_ boring place, where he spent most of his time either sitting in stony silence, guards armed with wicked looking katanas standing outside his door, or being bombarded with dialogue by Naruto and Sakura or a combination of the two. Sometimes, even Kakashi paid the occasion visit, though it was merely to lean against a corner of the cell and read that damned book of his.

The chain that connected his wrist to the wall clinked. For Uchiha Sasuke, this kind of containment was almost torturous, especially to someone who had a good portion of the last year of his life on the road. But even if he could break out (which, even if he did manage to escape, Naruto would inevitably track him down), he knew he shouldn't. Sasuke was well aware of the fact that he likely belonged in prison, regardless of what his former team thought. He had defected from Konoha. He had killed his brother, and vowed to annihilate the village.

But it didn't matter what he thought. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were all fighting for his innocence - and no amount of convincing would allow them to simply let him rot. And so, he had to wait.

Waiting, however, had never been his forte. He was a man of action. Not hot headed like Naruto or Sakura, but still, he despised sitting on his heels and being reactive. When he had wanted Itachi in the ground, he had sought out any method he could to bring him down. When Sasuke had wanted Konoha burned to cinders, he'd done everything in his ability to do exactly that. And when Sasuke had wanted to revolutionize the shinobi world, it'd taken Naruto - someone who was just as hard headed as he was - to bring him to his senses. It wasn't in his nature to wait. Despite that, he bit his tongue.

' _You've already forsaken the village once.'_ he told himself. _'Don't do it again.'_

The real problem that he had currently was just how tough it was to judge the passage of time, while the days whittled by in his cell. Sure, he could look at the blues of the sky through the thin window he was provided - but without the sun in view, he was left clueless as to the actual time. He was pretty sure it was… Wednesday? The guards weren't forthcoming with that kind of information, and Naruto was more focused on reminding him on how many days there were to the trial instead of giving him any specifics. Which made things complicated, especially when Naruto couldn't make one of his typically daily visits.

The fact that they - they being the elder council and Tsunade - hadn't even allowed him to go to his trial was irritating. Downright dictatorial, if you asked Naruto or Sakura, though Sasuke wasn't surprised by what Tsunade had decided. He was a nukenin. Really, if she'd had her way, the guillotine would have long since been set up for his private use.

But that wasn't going to happen. Sasuke knew the trial was a forgone conclusion - Naruto was beloved by all, and they most certainly going to go against his vehement insistence that Sasuke had changed. And even if they came back with a guilty verdict, Naruto and Sakura were going to do everything in their power to prevent his death and permanent imprisonment. There was nothing he could do.

So, he waited.

And waited.

Finally, the day, or to put it more clearly _days_ of the trial came. The details of it were not divulged to him - though he was aware that several of the Kage had been called to Konoha in order to stand witness against him. The trial lasted a full twenty two, and each time Naruto came back to visit him at the end of the day's proceedings, he looked increasingly ruffled, though his smile was as bright as ever.

Then, the verdict came.

Not guilty. Not that he wasn't actually guilty - everyone and their mother knew that what he had done warranted a death sentence under normal circumstances, but unfortunately for his opposition, saving the world and helping to free the world from the Tsukiyomi was enough to sway the jury to vote in his favour. Even then, it had been close.

Naruto was the one to deliver the news. And the keys to his shackle. Sasuke repressed a sigh as the wrought iron was removed from his wrist, really, he almost wished he could massage it, but even if he tried the most he could get was his stump that was formerly his left arm to twitch slightly.

Predictably, the first place they went was Ichiraku's.

Sakura had been right behind Naruto when they came into the cell, a dazzling smile on her pretty, heart shaped face. Her healing hands had gone straight to work, easing the aches in Sasuke's legs and remaining arm, allowing him to move around freely without his limbs crying out in protest.

Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke noticed that his other arm - his right one - was bandaged heavily, and seemed a little stiff for the blonde to move. "I knew you were going to get off!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning wildly.

"Mmm."

"You should have seen the look on the elder's face when they came back with the verdict." Sakura said, giggling slightly. "Those old geezers really thought they were going to convict you!"

"Not with me around." Naruto said vehemently. "Even if they had tried to lock you up, I would have broken you out myself!" His grin widened. "Now, maybe as a token of your overwhelming _gratitude_ , Sasuke, you should buy Sakura-chan and I's meals…"

Sasuke's mismatched eyes flickered to Naruto. "I don't have any money, idiot." he said, calmly prying Naruto's arm off of his shoulder. "And even if I did, there's no chance I would buy _you_ ramen."

"Sasuke!" naruto whined. "What, just because I kicked your ass you're going to be all mean to me? What the hell?"

"It was a draw." Sasuke said.

Sakura laughed. "I don't know…! Naruto was back on his feet in two days flat." she said. "And you took a whole _week_ to get out of the hospital, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke muttered something under his breath that sounded vaguely like "Fucking Kyuubi.".

"Don't be a sore loser, Sasuke. It's not flattering." Naruto grinned. Sasuke's hand twitched at his side, and only his desire to remain safely out of the dog pen for the rest of his life prevented him from punching Konoha's hero right then and there. "But fine," Naruto continued. "Sakura-chan, you wanna pay?"

"After last time? No." she said.

"How about we go splitsies?" Naruto said. "I'll pay for me, you pay for yours, and we can both pay for Sasuke's."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Who said I wanted ramen?" Though he couldn't help the smirk that curled his lips.

"You do look twenty pounds skinnier, Sasuke." Sakura pointed out. "What did they feed you in there?"

"Food." he said vaguely. It was nothing dissimilar to the slop that he'd eaten with Orochimaru. Though it was a little more difficult to eat with one hand, especially considering he continually had to adjust how he sat, in order to accommodate the chain that bound his wrist. It wasn't an abnormally short one, maybe a meter or so long, but just the process of grabbing his tray off of the floor was an ordeal on all its own. "Alright…" Sasuke said. "I suppose I could go for some Ichiraku's."

They ate.

Sasuke remained mostly quiet throughout the meal, while Naruto and Sakura chatted adamantly about one thing or another. Of course, being who they were, the two tried to drag him into the conversation every now and then, and though he gave them the answers they wanted, he never remained in the discussions for long

He took a sip of the glass of water that he'd ordered.

There was a loud screech, and what sounded almost like a cat's tail being trodden on. The three of them - Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto - whirled around.

"Ino-buta… did you just-" Sakura began, her emerald eyes widening slightly

"No!" Ino said quickly, though her cheeks seemed slightly pink. "I was just- um…" She swallowed. "… so, so they finally let Sasuke-kun out?"

"They sure did!" Naruto exclaimed, beaming at his fellow blonde. "Don't spread it around, though. We want to keep it on the down low until all of the legalese crap gets settled."

"Of- of course." Ino said. "No problem at all."

Sakura shook her head, muttering something under her breath.

Sasuke was well aware why not a few hours later.

Predictably - Ino being Ino - by dusk, everyone in Konohagakure knew that Uchiha Sasuke had been declared not guilty, and released from prison.

* * *

If there was one thing Hyuga Hanabi was sure of, it was that she didn't envy her sister.

Hinata had changed. That much had become clear, not long after she had returned from the Fourth War that had rocked the Elemental Nations, spreading death and destruction, upending long since practiced traditions, and afterwards, spearheaded for the world a new era of peace between the great villages.

She wasn't sure about the details of what had happened in the war, having been confined to the village like the rest of the academy students and genin had been at the time. But she heard bits and pieces. The casualty rate had been astoundingly high - half of the Shinobi Alliance's forces had been wounded or killed on the first day alone, and by the end of the second day (and the war itself), over eighty percent of the Alliance lay dead or writhing in makeshift hospital tents.

Hanabi couldn't even imagine what her dear older sister had seen. And that wasn't the worst of it, either. Hinata had come home in tears - catching her little imouto in a tight hug, burying her face into the crook of Hanabi's neck and sobbed, sobbed harder than she had ever before. Hanabi had been perplexed, but then, when Hinata had calmed down slightly, she'd broken the news.

Neji was dead.

Perhaps, Hanabi hadn't been as close to Neji as Hinata was. But she still grieved. She felt his loss almost every day, for Neji had been like a brother to her and Hinata, despite his branch status. She had sat through his funeral, a stony expression on her face. The sight of Hinata's face, glistening with tears, had remained with her for much longer than she'd like to admit. Hinata was a sweet, soft angel, and she didn't deserve to cry, she didn't deserve to be in pain, she didn't deserve… _any_ of this.

But time passed. Days and weeks ticked by, and soon Hanabi could say that things had gotten better. Hinata didn't constantly come out of her room with red eyes and stuffy nose anymore. Her father's face didn't grow quite as stoic whenever his gaze flickered over the image of his own brother in a picture. And Hanabi herself felt considerably lighter as well.

Regardless of that, Hanabi could honestly say that she didn't envy her sister - despite the fact that it seemed as if _she_ had it all. A beautiful smile, hair that gleamed in the sun, a curvaceous figure that would make all men desire her, and a shy personality that endeared nearly everyone she met. But she was weak. Hinata had said it herself to Hanabi, how it had been her fault that Neji had died, for he'd been forced to step in and stop her from throwing her life away.

Hanabi knew Hinata wasn't going to get any stronger. Her sister, in all actuality, was _done_ with the shinobi life. She had seen too much death, too much destruction, and she had lost her taste for it. Where before, Hinata had spent long hours in the training grounds practicing her Gentle Fist, she now spent it doing other, more menial things: reading books, cooking, wandering about the house, or even simply lounging around in her room.

She just didn't get it. Well… she could get _why_ Hinata had decided to effectively stop being a kunoichi, but Hanabi just couldn't rationalize why she would choose to do it now of all times. There were still enemies of Konoha out there. Eighty percent of the Elemental Nation's shinobi had been killed, maimed, or put of out of action. Bandits, nukenin and the like had free rein over large swathes of the countryside. Even someone as powerful as Uzumaki freakin' Naruto couldn't contain all of them on his own. There still had to be kunoichi out there to defend the village. Maybe her sister wasn't up to the task… but damn it, Hanabi just _knew_ she had to be.

Hanabi had to be stronger. She couldn't- she _wouldn't_ let a tragedy like Neji's death happen to her family again. It wasn't going to happen. She refused to let it happen.

But she had to be frank with herself, she couldn't do it on her own. She wasn't Neji. The idea of her, Hanabi, being able to learn things like Kaiten on her own was… laughable at best. She was strong, she was smart, she was talented, but she wasn't a boundless prodigy like Neji had been.

And her list of potential 'trainers' was embarrassingly short. Her father was swamped with work, having to negotiate and deal with all sorts of things. The Hyuga clan's death toll in the war had been massive, and even now they were still working through inheritances, funerals, death certificates… it was an absolute mess. Hinata had given up the kunoichi trade. There was nothing else she could really learn from any other Hyuga, and she didn't _want_ to work with them anyways. Neji, the best option for something like this, was… well, dead.

Briefly, _very_ briefly, she considered a trainer that was outside the Hyuga. It was unheard of, really, for a Hyuga to receive instruction from an outsider - but then again, _this_ was a new era. Being unique was Hanabi's forte after all, and she loved the mental image she painted of the elders' reaction when they found out what she had done.

Who outside the clan would train her, though?

That was something that took quite a bit more thought.

For some reason, a brief spell of something resembling temporary insanity overcame her. What about Uzumaki Naruto, one of if not _the_ strongest shinobi in the world? He was perfect! Somehow, she had deluded herself into thinking that Naruto would actually train her… but she stopped herself just in the nick of time.

It was ridiculous to assume that someone like him would train her. She was young. And he was too busy, far too preoccupied with his new found duties to worry about an twelve year old girl's desire to get stronger, even if that girl was related to one of his friends.

But, when she had stopped herself, she had only been a scant ten meters behind Naruto. And who else would be flanking his sides, but Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke.

The nukenin, Uchiha Sasuke. The one who had just been released from jail only a few days ago.

The man who had broken into a Kage Summit and walked out alive, and relatively intact.

The man who had helped to save the world from the clutches of his crazy family.

Hanabi knew that she was acting crazy.

She was absolutely, positively, freakin' totally _crazy_ for thinking, for even considering something like this. But he was perfect, wasn't he? There was no one in the world quite like him. And she knew that unlike Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke didn't have much to occupy his time. And, now that she thought about it, if there was anyone who could match or at least come close to matching Uzumaki Naruto's position as the strongest shinobi in the world, it was him. If she wanted to be stronger, if she wanted to become powerful, then no one else alive was as perfect a choice as Sasuke was.

Her feet carried her forward, Hanabi seemingly unable to control herself. She trailed behind the three of them, Sasuke visibly remaining silent while Sakura and Naruto's loud voices carried even to Hanabi, who was still at least five to ten meters behind them.

A hawk cawed loudly - swooping down and landing on Naruto's shoulder. The blonde pulled a scroll from one of the hawk's talons, reading the message. He said something to Sasuke, and then both he and Sakura leapt onto a nearby rooftops, quickly disappearing.

It was now or never.

Just as Sasuke was turning around, Hanabi caught up to him. She tried tapping him elbow in order to get his attention - only to realize she had accidently hit the empty sleeve that belonged to his side that was missing an arm.

He still noticed however. Sasuke turned, those mismatched eyes staring down at her, as if they were looking into her very soul.

"What do you want?" he grunted, his voice low.

Hanabi swallowed down her fear. Her pale eyes were filled with a courage that had been passed down by generations of Hyuga. And then, she opened her mouth.

"I want you to train me!"

* * *

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

That was the only emotion that he allowed to flicker across his features. Otherwise, he remained stoic, staring at the girl that was blinking up at him.

' _White eyes.'_ he thought. _'A Hyuga.'_ The same, eerily pale eyes that he remembered from the chunin exams all those years ago, possessed by the boy that they had called a prodigy. There was a girl too, that Sasuke vaguely recalled, who had been in his academy class with those same eyes.

She was small, much smaller than he had been at that age - what, she had to be… eleven or twelve, or at least that was his best guess. Despite that, he could see the thin muscles that ran along her arms, the graceful pose in which she stood, both of which told Sasuke that she already had the makings of a kunoichi.

But, the very idea of _him_ \- Uchiha Sasuke, murderer extraordinaire - training somebody was… laughable at best.

He let out something that half resembled a snort.

"I'm not training you." Sasuke said. Then, he turned, and walked away.

Sasuke had barely made it ten paces before a scatter of tiny footsteps behind him told Sasuke that the girl was once again following him. He frowned, stopping in his tracks as she skidded around him, stopping dead in his path, blocking him.

"You are _not_ going to blow me off that easily!" she declared, pointing a 'threatening' finger at him.

He repressed a sigh. Persistence was never a bad thing, but in this case, it served to be a rather small annoyance for him. Right then and there, he was tempted to simply _shunshin_ away from her, and leave the girl behind… but… well, to be frank, he was bored. There was no harm in entertaining her offer, even if it was almost certain that he was going to say no.

"Name." Sasuke grunted.

The girl blinked. "Huh?" she said, head tilted to the side with curiosity.

"I said: what is your name?"

She seemed dumbfounded for a second, as if she hadn't even anticipated getting this far. He watched her swallow harshly, her _gulp_ noisy enough for even him to hear. "Hyuga Hanabi." she said, her voice strained, yet firm. "Is… is that a yes, then?"

"No." Sasuke said. "But I won't deny that I'm curious. Why exactly, do you think that _I_ would want to train you?"

"Uh…" Hanabi scratched her cheek. "I'm not gonna lie, but I was kind of hoping that you'd do it… well, just for the heck of it."

"'For the heck of it.'" Sasuke repeated.

She nodded. "I mean… what's the harm in it?" Hanabi said. "I'm awesome, I'm funny, I'm cute, I'm not annoying-" Sasuke had to hold back a snort. "- and plus, I'm a Hyuga! What ever happened to like, eye jutsu kinsmen and stuff like that?"

"I think that went out of the window when two of our 'eye jutsu kinsmen' conspired to erase the world as we know it." Sasuke said softly.

Hanabi blinked. "Whatever. I didn't try to erase the world!" she retorted. "And you- well, I mean, I guess you kinda tried to erase Konoha… but I'm sure you didn't _really_ mean it. And plus, you're like, reformed now, aren't you?"

"... sure." Sasuke said vaguely.

"Yeah!" Hanabi declared. "And I bet that if you wanted to like, make everyone see you as 'changed' and stuff, you could train me and _that_ would help."

"Mmm. That's a fair point." Sasuke admitted.

"So you'll train me?" she asked, her eyes wide, grinning up at him almost like a puppy.

"No." Sasuke said.

Hanabi deflated. "Why not?" she asked. "Come on, _pleassee_? I promise I'll be a totally awesome student. I'll… I'll clean your shuriken, I'll carry your sword, I'll-"

Sasuke raised a hand up, and Hanabi stopped immediately, as if her voice had been cut off.

"I get the impression that you're not going to stop irritating me until I say yes." Sasuke murmured. "So I'll cut you a deal."

"Really?!"

"I'm not done talking yet." he said darkly, and she quieted down once more. "First of all… what is your primary affinity."

"Like… like my element?" Hanabi said. "'Cuz, I don't need one. Hyugas don't need elemental jutsu, that's what my otou-sama always told me."

"If I am… potentially going to be training you," Sasuke said. "Then you won't be learning as a Hyuga." For the first time, something other than bland stoicism crossed his face - the ghost of a smirk appeared, reminiscent of his youth. "You'll be learning as an Uchiha. Or at least as close as to one as you can get."

It might seem that the idea of being trained as an 'Uchiha' would be downright offensive to a Hyuga. And maybe it would be, had she been older, and exposed for several more years to the propaganda that her clan regularly pumped out. But to Hanabi, the idea of being trained as an Uchiha was _brilliant_. After all - it had taken two Uchiha to nearly bring the world to its knees. And only the timely intervention of Sasuke and his cohort, according to Hinata when she'd given Hanabi a vague recount of the war, had saved the Shinobi Alliance from certain defeat.

The testament of the sheer power difference was clear to her. Neji was a prodigy of the Hyuga, the strongest in a thousand years, with limitless potential and a gaze so clear that it could almost be perfect. And he had been felled by one of the Juubi's 'standard' attacks, where Uchiha such as Sasuke could go toe to toe with tailed beasts and Hokage alike.

"Okay, okay!" she chirped. "I'll learn as an Uchiha, awesome. But, um… I still, uh, kinda don't know what my affinity is."

"Forget it then." Sasuke muttered, shaking his head. He turned - but she stopped him, running up and seizing his armless sleeve.

"Wait! How- how can I learn it?" she asked.

"Specialized paper that you can buy from any shinobi store." Sasuke murmured. "Don't bother me again until you know your affinity." He shrugged off her arm, and then disappeared in a poof of smoke. Hanabi was left staring at the place where he had dissipated, blinking with awe and… irritation in her eyes.

' _He's a jerk!'_ she declared. But a powerful jerk. And if he _was_ going to give her a chance to be his protege… well, then she'd just have to try her absolute hardest to do exactly that! With a grin on her face, Hanabi raced off, intent on finding the nearest shinobi supply store so that she could scrounge up some of that chakra paper he had talked about.

It didn't take her long. Less than five minutes, in fact, before she had barged through the front door of a rather small 'mom and pop' style store. A kindly, middle aged woman with her hair tied into a messy bun greeted her.

"What can I do for you today, Hyuga-sama?" the woman asked.

"I need chakra paper!" Hanabi proclaimed.

Hanabi doubted that was the actual, standardized name for it. But apparently, the lady knew what she had been talking about regardless. She reached a hand under the counter, and withdrew a small pack of thin white papers wrapped in plastic.

"Here you go," the woman said, offering them to Hanabi, who accepted them. "Using them is easy - all you have to do is put a little chakra into the paper, and it'll tell you what your affinity is."

"How will it tell what element is mine?" Hanabi asked.

"There's more instructions on the back." the lady said kindly. "Now, how will you be paying for it, sweetie?"

Hanabi jammed a hand into her pocket, thin fingers fishing out some pocket change and slapping the crumpled rolls onto the counter. "There you go, thanks!" Hanabi said, dashing out of the store, her long brown hair swinging behind her.

She didn't bother to wait to make it to a training ground or whatever. She tore open the pack, pulled a piece of paper out, and held it in front of her. Hanabi's nostrils flared for a moment. And then, she put a bit of chakra, just a tad, into it.

The paper sparked before her eyes. Red, yellow, orange, and blue reflected off of the glossy white that were distinctive to the Hyuga. She hadn't even bothered to read the 'instructions' on the back… but there was no need to. After all, there was only _one_ thing that this could be, and it didn't take a genius to figure out it.

"Fire…" Hanabi whispered, feeling the strange urge to giggle. How ironic was it, that someone whose name quite literally meant 'firecracker' would have _fire_ as an affinity? She'd never heard of any Hyuga being attuned to fire, but then again, she'd never heard of a Hyuga being attuned to _anything_ , not really.

She grinned.

Now, all she had to do was find Sasuke, and tell him the news.

The question was… where was he?

* * *

In retrospect, she probably shouldn't have expected any less.

After all, what else would someone like Uchiha Sasuke do with his spare time? His only friends - well, _friend_ was Uzumaki Naruto. You could count Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi as… acquaintances, which for Sasuke, was as good as it got, if you weren't a certain blonde idiot who had a tendency to befriend even the most hateful of people. Neji when he had still be a vengeful adolescent was a prime example, Hanabi thought.

He was just sitting there, alone in the clearing. His legs crossed, his arm resting on his knee, his eyes closed. Sasuke had tensed slightly - Hanabi was well aware that he had _easily_ felt her presence from the very moment she had stepped within fifty yards of him. He didn't say anything, perhaps hoping that she would leave him alone.

Hanabi being Hanabi, however…

"Oi!" she shouted, landing in front of him, pointing a finger at Sasuke that he couldn't see. "I did your stupid affinity test!" Hanabi declared.

Sasuke sighed. "Okay." he said blankly.

Hanabi blinked. "Well… you're going to train me now, aren't you?" she asked.

"I never said I was going to train you just for knowing what your affinity was." Sasuke said. "I simply said don't bother me until you _do_ know what it is." He gave her a pointed look for a moment, but she simply blinked back at him, confused. Another sigh. "What was it, then?"

"Fire!" Hanabi declared.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Fire." he said. "That's not something I would have expected from a Hyuga."

"Who cares?" Hanabi said flippantly. "Isn't that good news? I mean, you're an Uchiha and all, wouldn't your affinity be fire?"

"No." Sasuke said. "It's lightning."

She blinked. "But…"

"That doesn't mean I'm not a master of both elements." Sasuke continued. "But lightning was my natural affinity." He rubbed the bridge of his nose for a minute, before climbing to his feet. Hanabi was astounded by the difference in height between them. Sasuke wasn't the tallest man out there, but at seventeen, he cracked at least five foot, nine inches. Compared to him, Hanabi felt puny, not even four foot, six. "Alright." Sasuke said, startling her slightly. "Like I said, I'll make you a deal. If you can learn the jutsu I'm about to teach you in about an hour, I'll take you on as my protege."

"And if I don't…?" Hanabi hesitated to ask.

"Then you're out of luck." Sasuke said. "Follow the seals," he said softly, turning so that he was facing away from her, yet still allowing her to see his fingers. Her pert white eyes watched attentively, Sasuke going through the seals for the technique slowly enough for her to memorize them. He went through them with his single hand, but told her the names as he went through the various seals that encompassed the jutsu.

He pulled his head back, puffed out his chest, cupped his fingers around his lips and _blew_. Hanabi gasped, as a fireball burst from his mouth - as tall as the trees, and the width of her bedroom two times over. It slammed into the forest arrayed in front of him, scorching tree bark, and turning canopies of leaves into little more than ash. Hanabi stared at him in astonishment, not saying anything as he did a simple water technique to put out any small fires that had sparked from his original technique.

"Did you get the seals?" Sasuke said.

Hanabi nodded.

"Then you have sixty minutes."

He went and sat down, leaning against a tree, his mismatched eyes watching her intently. Hanabi swallowed, closing her eyes, bringing the memory of him going through the seals for the fireball up to the forefront of her mind.

She was a Hyuga. Hanabi had been trained almost from birth to be top-notch with her eyes, and remembering that small sequence of hand seals was a cakewalk, even for a girl who was not yet even a genin. But, she was kind of nervous, she would admit.

' _You only have an hour!'_ Hanabi warned herself. _'Get going!'_

She took a deep breath.

And then, she flashed through the seals. She fumbled the first time, accidentally substituting the Tiger seal at the end for the Ram - which resulted in literally _nothing_ happening - but the second time, she got it.

The first fireball she was blew was… pathetic. Compared to Sasuke's earlier one, it was like comparing a water balloon to a zeppelin. Hanabi visibly deflated, but she didn't let that get to her, and soon she was throwing herself through the seals once more, not even wiping away the soot from the corner of her lip.

Her first attempt was better than his first _ever_ attempt had been, all those years ago on that dock. Sasuke had to begrudgingly admit that. But, considering she was near twice as old as he had been… it wasn't all that impressive… right?

' _She's never had any fire affinity training before.'_ a nagging voice in the bagging of his head (that sounded suspiciously like Sakura) said adamantly. _'Sure, she's much older than you were, but that doesn't make it any less impressive now, does it?'_

He seriously needed to get himself checked out. All these annoying voices in his head, whether they were real, some mental disorder, or his imagination, were starting to get on his nerves.

Hanabi tried the fireball jutsu, again and again. Her chakra levels were miserably low, but thankfully, Hyugas always had a good grasp of chakra control. She made sure to pace herself - but throughout the first half of her allotted hour, she managed to make… decent improvements. Enough that her fireball could actually reach the tree line before it dissipated, before it fizzled out."

She turned to him, a pout on her lips. "How am I supposed to know when I've 'learned' it anyways?" Hanabi whined.

Sasuke looked up from his current activity - which was cleaning his sword with the end of his shirt. "I'll tell you when." he said curtly. "Thirty minutes to go."

Hanabi groaned.

Again.

She gave herself a moment to rest, panting, smoke filling her nose and an awful ashy taste in her mouth.

Again, she flew through the seals.

Hanabi doubled over, wheezing.

Again, she went through the seals, blowing a fireball from her mouth.

Her knees shook beneath her, and she plummeted to the ground in a heap. Hanabi groaned weakly. Dimly, she heard footsteps. A foot nudged her side, rolling her over onto her back. She couldn't make out Sasuke himself, but those mismatched eyes placed him anyways.

"Alright." Sasuke said. "Good enough, I suppose."

She coughed. "Screw… you…" Hanabi wheezed.

He shook his head softly. His hands reached into his pouch, and he pulled out something small, mushy and brown. Sasuke crouched, grabbed the back of her head and pulled her up, and then held the brown object to her lips. Obediently, she took it into her mouth. Her face scrunched up. "Swallow." he said. She whined, but did some reluctantly, forced to gulp three times to get the mushy brown ball down her throat.

"Disgusting…!" Hanabi groaned, wiping the back of her mouth with her hand. Already, however, she could feel her strength returning. A soldier pill, but a foul tasting one. "Where did you get that from?" she groaned, panting.

"Sakura." Sasuke said, a thin smirk on his lips. He stood once more. "Alright… I'll train you… for now." he said. "You're in no condition to get started now, however. Rest up, and we'll get started then."

He turned, and made to leave.

"Wa- wait!" Hanabi said, forcing herself into a sitting position. "What time am I supposed to meet you?" she asked.

"Surprise me." Sasuke said.

And then, he walked off, leaving her feeling very sore, her mouth choked with ash, her chakra levels near zero, and her hair in disarray.

But she felt good. Because Hyuga Hanabi had just gotten _the_ Uchiha Sasuke to crack, and take her on as a student.

' _Score!'_ she thought, grinning triumphantly.

One for Hyuga Hanabi, _zero_ for Uchiha Sasuke. Not that she was keeping track, of course.

Sasuke paused for a moment, on the edge of the clearing. He cast one glance back at Hanabi - just able to make out the almost crazed grin on her face. He suppressed a groan. _'What have I gotten myself into?'_

* * *

 **Glossary:**

 _ **Otou-sama, a way to pronounce 'honorable father'. Tou-san would be just 'father', and Tou-chan would roughly be 'daddy'. The first being most common in prestigious clans such as the Hyuga.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Before we get into the story, I'd like to clarify something.**

 **There _was_ a tiny mistake with the handseals (Sasuke using 2 hands to do them when he only had 1), but I fixed that. The other 'mistake' wasn't a mistake... rather, it was more a lack of description. Sasuke hoisted Hanabi up (the solider pill in his hand), and _then_ he gave it to her. Sorry for the confusion.**

 **Anyways... _ten_ reviews on the first chapter! I have to say, I think that's pretty darn good, especially for a really, _really_ cracky pairing like Sasuke/Hanabi. Here's a second chapter for you guys. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review this time around as well. I appreciate each and every one, :D**

* * *

When Hanabi had dedicated herself to, by any means necessary, becoming Uchiha Sasuke's student, she hadn't expected it to be _this_ hard. Difficult, yes she had certainly expected some degree of difficulty, but seriously, this went way more than a little overboard.

It was now going on about six hours since Sasuke had deemed her 'worthy' of becoming his protege, and everything _still_ ached. Never before had she truly hit rock bottom when it came to chakra levels, but today, she learned what that _wonderful_ (horrifyingly painful) feeling felt like. Even now, she was forced to double over as if someone socked her in the gut, every five minutes, coughing up soot and ash that forced her to cycle through at least three handkerchiefs.

Of course, she couldn't intermingle with her family, not with her walking and coughing as if she'd acquired stage four cancer overnight - so, she had to avoid her overbearing sister and exceedingly stern father (and that went without mentioning the droves of fanatically loyal cousins and distant relatives) for most of the day, at least until she recovered.

Which wasn't too hard. For a clan with all seeing eyes, they really couldn't use them that much outside of training or combat - there were laws put in place to ensure privacy, barriers that made sure that prying eyes couldn't even catch a glimpse into the bathrooms and bedrooms scattered throughout the compound … among other things.

Of course, this sort of policy had lead to numerous incidents, which ranged from scandals involving a pair of cousins being found in bed together (where, if the laws weren't in place they likely wouldn't have dared to even hold hands within a dozen kilometers of the compound), to other more… serious matters, like an intruder breaking into the compound, swiping up Hanabi's elder sister and nearly managing to kidnap her - which triggered a series of events that had lead to her uncle's death, and by extension her cousin Neji's extensive sorrow throughout his adolescent years.

Regardless of the events that could have been avoided because of the privacy laws, they still remained in place. As a result, Hanabi could remain in her room for most of the day unmolested - only ducking beneath the bed or scurrying into the closet whenever somebody came by, to give the impression that she was out and about, and not holed up in her room trying to pray away the aches that dotted her limbs and the blackness that seemed to engulf her lungs.

' _Training like an Uchiha sucks.'_ she decided, self aware of the fact that she hadn't even had her first _real_ training session with Sasuke.

Hanabi lay face down on her plushy bed, head buried deeply into her pillows. Clad in a thin shirt and a pair of shorts, her long brown hair twisted up into something half resembling a ponytail, she looked less the esteemed second daughter of the Hyuga clan's main branch, and more somebody who looked as if they'd just walked out of a thrift shop.

There was a soft knock at the door.

Her first instinct was to jolt out of bed, to scamper beneath it and wait until they would go away - but honestly, by this point, Hanabi was just plain tired. She didn't really care anymore, and she was sure she could come up with a semi-acceptable excuse if too many pressing questions were asked.

"Hanabi-chan…?" a calm, but sweet voice came through the door. Hanabi paused, raising her head up off of the mattress. "Can… can I come in, Hanabi-chan?"

If there was one person Hanabi could _never_ say no to, it was her dear elder sister, Hyuga Hinata.

"Sure." Hanabi said, with a groan and a grimace. She wiped the back of her mouth with her hand, twisting around and sitting up, patting her clothes as if to make herself look presentable.

The handle twisted… and the door opened. There Hinata was, just beyond it, wearing that same old, lavender jacket that artfully concealed her significant curves. She looked the same as ever, her indigo hair gleaming in the light, a small smile on her face… aside from that look in her eyes. The look that had never quite disappeared since the night she'd come home from the war.

"Hi," Hanabi said lightly, giving her sister a wave as if they were strangers who hadn't seen each other in a week. "How've you been?"

"Good." Hinata said, sweeping into the room with that graceful walk of hers, gently closing the door behind her. She sat on the foot of the bed, folding her hands in her lap. "Kō-san told me that you've been out all day." Hinata murmured, a finger reaching up to twirl around a strand of indigo hair. "Did anything interesting happen?"

If there was one person that she could trust with her secret, that she was now Uchiha Sasuke's student, it was her sister; that was something that Hanabi knew. Hinata wasn't a secretive person by nature… but when it came to her sibling, she would become one, just to protect her.

"Not really." Hanabi lied, refusing to meet Hinata's gaze. "I just… trained… got a bite to eat at a café afterwards, came home. Nothing that important." Hanabi smiled. "How about you, sis?" Hanabi said, scooting forward slightly. "Anything cool going on in _your_ life?"

Hinata giggled slightly. "You know me, imouto." she said, smoothing out the front of her jacket. "The same old, same old." Her cheeks, however, _were_ a little pink.

"Ah…" Hanabi said. "So you're telling me that nothing happened? That you didn't, say, encounter a certain blonde war hero…?" Hanabi said significantly - a triumphant grin curling her lips as Hinata's cheeks pinkened even further.

"He still hasn't said anything about… um… _that_." Hinata said. "But, I was at the store today stocking up on food-" Hinata always had a tendency to help the cooks of the Hyuga compound make dinner… whenever she wasn't out on a mission, Hanabi could honestly say the already delicious food here got twice as good. "-and he… well… Naruto-kun helped me carry the bags here." She flashed Hanabi a radiant smile. "He was so nice…"

"He's _always_ nice." Hanabi pointed out. "Seriously sis, I know you love him and all…" Hinata flushed. "... but _come on_. You can't let your shyness get in the way anymore… you wait too long, and one of his rabid fangirls is just gonna swipe him up!" Hanabi said.

"Naruto-kun wouldn't let a-a… _fangirl_ s-seduce him like that." Hinata said fervently.

"Nee-chan," Hanabi said, leaning forward and putting a hand on Hinata's thigh. "You _are_ a fan girl."

Hinata was silent for a moment. "... am not…" she mumbled.

Hanabi grinned. "Are too!"

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not…"

Hanabi rolled her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be the older one?' Hanabi said, pinching Hinata's cheek, causing her to squeak and recoil. "Man up! Just ask him out or something… I mean, who can say no to you?" She sighed. "Seriously, you're what, seventeen now?"

Hinata frowned, which might as well be a national tragedy considering how sad it looked on her cute face. "My birthday was only last month." she insisted, her voice a murmur.

Hanabi, for the second time in a _very_ short period, rolled her eyes. "So let me get this straight," Hanabi said. "You can put your life on the line and _declare_ your love for him - but you can't summon the courage to just ask him out on a date. Is that it?"

"... yeah…"

She sighed. "At least you're honest." Hanabi said. She coughed, pressing her palm to her mouth, eyes widening as she caught a glimpse of black soot on her porcelain skin. She discretely wiped it off on the side of her bed, hoping that Hinata hadn't noticed.

It seemed she hadn't. "You need to eat something," Hinata said, poking Hanabi playfully in the belly - an obvious attempt to redirect the conversation to something that _didn't_ leave Hinata feeling like leaving the country… but an accurate one.

"I guess I am pretty hungry." Hanabi admitted. "But I'm only going down to dinner if _you're_ the one cooking it, nee-chan."

"Done." Hinata said, smiling. She placed a hand on the small of Hanabi's back, the both of them standing up on unision, Hanabi a little shaky on her feet though Hinata seemed not to notice.

The two sisters walked out of the room.

* * *

Sasuke frowned.

Not that him frowning was an irregular occurrence, but this one was even deeper than usual - the corners of his lips curling down as far as they could possibly go.

"No." Sasuke said, his eyes narrowed.

"Sasuke-kun," Haruno Sakura said lightly, her voice sounding a mix of dangerous and sweet. "I'm not giving you a choice here." Appropriately, she twirled a kunai around her finger - the blade glistening as it swished through the air, spinning around her slim digit at a speed that even Sasuke could admit was tough to comprehend.

In the distance, the both of them could hear the sound of Naruto singing - horribly - in the shower, mingled with the sound of the running water.

To Sasuke's complete and utter loathing, he'd been forced to… _stay_ with Naruto, until he finally managed to get his own place - something that wasn't too far off now, as Kakashi claimed he'd found a landowner that was willing (read: borderline forced by Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi) to rent out an apartment to him.

But that hadn't happened yet. And so, he had to endure many of Naruto's… annoying, or more accurately borderline making-Sasuke-want-to-go-on-a-murderous-rampage habits. Greasy and crumpled clothes left strewn about, ramen cups tossed on every table and counter, and worst of all, bursting into the living room - where Sasuke slept on the couch - every morning, shaking Sasuke awake and giving him a suffocating bear hug that left several of his ribs bruised on a regular basis.

Okay… maybe it was the slightest bit endearing. Sasuke knew it was a way for Naruto to… recover, from his lengthy absence. A daily reminder that _yes_ , Sasuke was here, that Sasuke was back, that he wasn't going to be executed, that he was perfectly content with the way things were - at least, as far as Naruto was concerned.

Sasuke tolerated it.

He wasn't going to say he was happy or content with Naruto being so affectionate, so open, so _free_ around him - but he could say that he tolerated it. He owed Naruto that much… he owed him a thousand times more than that, but this was the furthest he could bring himself to endure.

Now _this_ was going a little too far, though.

"You're not cutting my hair, Sakura." Sasuke said.

The kunai swirled around and around, Sakura not pausing in spinning it for even a brief second. "You know, I cut my own hair." she said airily, a glint in her eye, not unlike the glint of the kunai in her hand. "Do you have a problem with me cutting your hair?"

"No, but-"

"Are you saying that I'm going to ruin your hair?"

"No-"

"Am I-"

"Okay, _fine_." Sasuke said, exasperated. "You can… cut my hair." he growled, pursing his lips together in an undignified manner.

"There we go." Sakura said, smiling sweetly. "Now that wasn't so hard, now was it, Sasuke-kun?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now… how about we do it in the kitchen? Then it'll be much easier to clean up."

He repressed a groan.

About ten minutes later, when Naruto bound out of the bathroom - his damp clothes clinging to his body and a bright grin on his face - it was to the sight of Sakura leaning over Sasuke's head, carefully cutting off locks of raven hair with precise slashes from her kunai.

"Aww…" Naruto teased. "Does wittle Sasuke need a haircut?"

Sasuke's face darkened. And then a strand of hair landed on his nose. He twitched; and then, against his will, _sneezed_.

Sakura and Naruto both shared a laugh. "Do you need a paper towel, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, grinning.

"I hate both of you." Sasuke grumbled.

That only made them laugh harder.

After Sasuke's hair was cut, and given a quick soak to get rid of all the loose strands (once it dried, Sakura complimented him on it, Naruto still grinning), the three departed Naruto's apartment. Sasuke trailed behind the two as they reminisced - of course, talking on and on about one of their more memorable missions, back during their days as Team Seven.

"You remember Sasuke's face when we had to wear those cat ears?" Naruto said.

Sakura chuckled, her voice sweet and savoury. "I was surprised Sasuke-kun didn't incinerate them the second he could take them off." She turned to Sasuke, her emerald eyes twinkling. "Everything alright?" she asked.

"Mmm." Sasuke grunted.

Naruto clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "Don't be so stony!" he said, his voice loud and booming enough to cause several nearby bystanders to jump in mild shock. "Loosen up a bit! Come on… nobody's gonna come and try to kill ya or anything, not when Sakura-chan and I are looking after you."

' _I wouldn't be so sure.'_ Sasuke thought grimly. He'd seen the looks plenty of Konoha citizens had shot him - and they were none too kind. He wasn't loathed, someone who was friends with and trusted by _the_ Uzumaki Naruto couldn't exactly be loathed, but he was certainly distrusted. Hated by some, even.

He did not choose to respond to Naruto's inquiry towards his 'stoniness'. Instead, he merely pursed his lips together, and said nothing - not a moment later, Sakura and Naruto began their babble of conversation once more, and he was left to his own devices… mostly.

Sasuke allowed himself to think.

His mind wandered, inexplicably, to the little girl that had… somehow… managed to worm her way into becoming his student. Hyuga Hanabi, thin and lithe, with eerily white eyes that still managed to convey the fire in her heart. She was interesting, Sasuke had to admit. And, well, even he couldn't deny that she was talented - to go from not even knowing what your element was in the morning, to mastering a moderately difficult (for an eleven year old) elemental technique within an hour took some skill.

That had been two days ago, Sasuke thought, scratching his chin absentmindedly. He'd told her to surprise him the next time she wanted to train - but, surely, she hadn't been _that_ exhausted after his trial. She was a little one, though, and an eleven year old girl using an unfamiliar technique, one that required at least twenty times the chakra of your average bunshin, for an hour straight was sure to be… well, maybe he'd overdone it a little. He wasn't well versed in Hyuga genes and abilities, but it didn't taken a brain surgeon to realize they had extraordinary chakra control - and without that, there was no chance Hanabi would have successfully completed what he'd asked in the time allotted. And even then, she had collapsed right after, and he was sure it had taken a while for her to summon the energy to get home.

Hmm.

Regardless… he knew that he wasn't going to take it easier on her.

'She was a little girl!' some might say. Sure… and he'd been half her age when his clan had been slaughtered and he'd been left curled up in their spilled blood. He was sure a girl like Hanabi, especially considering she was a Hyuga, could withstand a few tough training sessions.

It was still a little strange to him, though.

 _He_ , Uchiha Sasuke, had somehow become a… teacher.

Never in his seventeen years of life had he imagined himself in that position; it really just didn't suit him. He wasn't patient like Kakashi - who had been able to keep up with, and train stubborn kids the likes of Naruto and… well, Sasuke. He wasn't Orochimaru - he didn't have anything to gain by training and honing Hanabi's skills, nothing like obtaining the sharingan had been to the old sannin.

He was doing it… well, because he hadn't the patience to tell her off, and ignore her until she finally stopped pestering him.

To be fair, he hadn't expected her to pass the trial. To learn a technique like the Grand Fireball in an hour was… it was prodigious, there no doubt about that. Was it Itachi levels of prodigy? No. But it made her more talented that ninety five percent of the people out there, and besides, comparing someone to _the_ Uchiha Itachi wasn't all that fair anyways.

Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose, an automatic insult spilling from his lips as Naruto ribbed him for something he wasn't really paying attention to.

'Sasuke-sensei'... hmm… that didn't have that bad of a ring to it, Sasuke thought.

* * *

Later that day was when Hanabi chose to seek him out.

It took her longer than she'd expected to find him. Her first instinct had been to search Ichiraku's - for when Uzumaki Naruto was out and about, there was a good chance that Sasuke would be tagging along as well… however, neither of them were there. She searched the training ground that they had used for her 'trial', the grass still burnt and the trees scorched, but he hadn't been there either.

In the end, even with her Byakugan, it took her quite a while to locate where her new teacher was.

He was in a different training ground this time.

It wasn't that large, but it wasn't small either. A lush clearing encompassed most of it - with a gently flowing river running across the side of it. Three wooden posts dominated the area… and in the distance, a pointed rock was visible, scribbled with thousands of little names.

Sasuke was perched atop one of the posts, his sword resting in his lap, his fingers gently sliding across the surface. It wasn't dark quite yet - but the sun _was_ sinking, and in the silhouette of the evening, his violet rinnegan appeared almost ominous.

"Hanabi." he greeted, as the young girl came to a stop before the wooden post he was on.

She swallowed, a flicker of anxiety going through those big, pale eyes of hers. "Sasuke-sensei." Hanabi said, bowing her head slightly.

He nodded. With one smooth movement, he leapt down from the post, landing on the ground with his blade clutched in his sole hand. Gently, he slid his sword into its scabbard, with a hiss that made the hairs on the back of Hanabi's neck stand on end.

Sasuke gave her a pointed look. Instinctively, she recognized what he wanted- and with a second nervous gulp, she complied. "I'm… ready for our first training session," she said lightly, fingers twitching at her side.

"Alright." Sasuke said. "First thing's first… I want you to demonstrate your fireball to me."

"Yes, Sasuke-sensei." Hanabi murmured. She turned to face the river, and instinctively, her hands flew through the seals for the jutsu; she remembered them clearly, and not five seconds later she found herself cupping her fingers around her mouth. A rather large fireball exploded from her mouth - jettisoning across the river. Red, orange, and yellow was reflected off of the water, the ball of fire continuing until it dissipated just before reaching the treeline on the other side.

"Mmm… not bad." Sasuke said. "The fireball is a good starter technique, and I'd say you already have quite a good grasp of it."

"It doesn't seem that… erm… effective though, does it?" Hanabi pointed out, a little cautious with her choice of words. "Like, couldn't someone just jump out of the way?"

"That's the case for most jutsus." Sasuke said. "The real strength of that technique isn't its effectiveness - more so, it's the versatility with which you can use it. You can use it as a mid to long range attack, designed to force an enemy shinobi out of a defensible position-" Faster than she could comprehend, his single hand flew through the seals. A monstrous ball of fire spurted from his lips, flying with lightning speed across the river and slamming into the treeline with such force that at least two or three trees were felled before it dissipated. "That," Sasuke continued. "Or as a short range flamethrower." Again, he flashed through the seals - but this time, it didn't come out as a ball, but a continuous burst of flames that bathed the twenty meters in front of the both of them with fire.

"Woah…" Hanabi murmured, pale eyes staring at the trees on the opposite side of the river - quite a few of which burned freely in the dim light of evening.

"Don't expect to take out an enemy with this jutsu." Sasuke continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "But… it's something that can easily setup a killing move… or a disabling move, at the very least."

"Alright." Hanabi said. "So… do you want me to like… practice with it again?"

"Not right now." Sasuke said. "Follow me."

He lead her from the edge of the river, and instead towards the tree. Sasuke looked up at it with an almost fond look on his face - something that almost resembled a smile curling his lips. It was silent for a moment. Hanabi felt herself… relax, merely soaking in the warm light that bathed the two of them, the soft sounds of distant wildlife.

She was curious, though, as was her nature. "What are we supposed to be doing?" Hanabi asked Sasuke, turning to him.

Sasuke chuckled.

"Oh… that little moment of 'peace' was just to distract you." Sasuke told her, being quite blunt.

Hanabi blinked. "What?"

Something pulled taut around her leg. She gasped, as Hanabi was _yanked_ off of her feet; the world turned upside down, and she saw Sasuke looking at her with a smug look on his face. Dangling the wrong side up, Hanabi could feel the blood rushing to her head. She wasn't helpless though - as quickly as she could manage, she pulled a kunai from her pouch, reaching up to cut the rope around her leg…

… only for the rope to be jerked, and Hanabi to be pulled up higher another foot or so. The ensuing jolt caused her grip to fumble, and the kunai slipped from her fingers - falling into the grass at Sasuke's feet.

"W-what are you doing?" Hanabi demanded, her face already red from the blood rushing there.

Sasuke shook his head slowly, the end of the rope in his hand - she glanced up, seeing that he had set up some kind of pulley system, one end tied around her leg.

"I wanted to ask you a question." he said.

"What is it?" Hanabi spat. "Why are you- _ah!_ " He pulled again on the rope, causing her to jerk up several feet, before he slowly lowered her back down so that she was eye level with him.

"Why do you want me to train you?"

She paused. "To get stronger, _duh_." Hanabi said, as if he were an idiot.

"Of course." Sasuke said. "I meant _why_ do you want to get stronger."

Hanabi was silent for a moment. "... to… um… to protect my family!" she blurted.

"Wrong answer." Sasuke said. "Everyone wants to protect their family - at least the people that they consider their family. That's not a reason to get stronger, it's not a goal, it's just a flimsy excuse to mask the _real_ reason that you wanted my tutelage."

She groaned. "I don't know!" Hanabi said. "I-" She felt rather light headed, spinning around and around, the sensation of dangling upside only getting worse and worse. "I… I don't know…"

Sasuke sighed. "Let's try a different avenue." he said. You say you want to protect your family, Hanabi. _Who_ do you want to protect in your family? Give me names."

"M-my sister!" Hanabi said. "My father. My… my cousin, Nej-" She stopped, mid sentence, her voice cracking. Even now, three months on, and she still forgot…

"Neji." Sasuke said. "He's the one that died in the war, isn't he?" A pause, Sasuke tilting his head thoughtfully. "I remember the idiot talking about him…"

Hanabi blinked away the tears pooling in her eyes. "Yeah, he- he's dead." Hanabi whispered.

"It's been months." Sasuke said. "And yet, you talk as if it happened yesterday." A pause. "Clearly, his death has been bothering you."

Sasuke had never been one to be the _best_ at giving motivational speeches - that was Naruto's territory, through and through - but he was very observant.

Hanabi felt her breathing quicken. "It's- no…" she murmured. "I- Neji wasn't as close to me as he was to nee-chan…" She gulped. "I… I'm over his death, Sasuke-sensei, I promise, I-" She yelped, as he jerked her up once again, the rope tightening painfully around her leg.

"Don't lie." Sasuke said, giving it yet another yank. It was for her own good, he reasoned.

" _I feel guilty!_ " Hanabi blurted.

"Why?"

There were tears pouring from her eyes now, streaming down her forehead, dropping to the grass below her. "Nee-chan and I-I…" Hanabi mumbled. "We said we were going to free him… b-but we couldn't. He- he died a slave."

Sasuke was silent, though he loosened his grip on the rope slightly.

"We w-wanted to give him a future full of freedom." Hanabi whispered, her voice hoarse. "We- we wanted to give him a chance to live… t-to have children that didn't have the seal… to marry who he wanted to… b-but we couldn't! He- he just, there wasn't enough time!"

"Enough time to do what?" Sasuke said.

"To reform the Hyuga…" Hanabi said. It was cliched, and a thousand Hyuga before her and Hinata had said it - 'I'm going to reform the clan, I'm going to free the branch family, I'm going to make everyone equal.' But she meant it. She- she hadn't known it before now, but deep in her heart, she knew what her goal was. She was going to tear down the old order. The Senju and the Uchiha had fallen because they'd refused to give up their ancient ways - and she _refused_ to allow the same to happen to her clan. With Hinata at her side… she wasn't going to make her biological half-brother's sacrifice mean nothing. The branch family would be given the rights they deserved. The Hyuga would be revitalized. That was a _promise_.

Sasuke gently raised the rope, so that Hanabi lowered slowly and steadily to the ground. Only when she was hovering about six inches up, her hair pooling in the grass, did he let her go. She fell to the ground with a clatter, the discarded rope falling beside her.

"You're going to try and reform the Hyuga." Sasuke said, standing above her.

She wiped the tears from her ears, forcing herself up onto her hands and knees. Her ankle throbbed, her head felt loopy - and yet, there seemed to be a new strength that had settled in her heart. "I _will_ reform the Hyuga." Hanabi said, through her heaving pants.

Sasuke smirked. "Alright then." he said.

A breeze flowed through the clearing - lifting their hair up, clothes rippling in the wind. Black and violet eyes were locked with pale ones, and despite her still lingering fear of him, despite her intimidation, Hanabi _refused_ to back down.

He offered her a hand. Hanabi stared at it for a moment, before accepting it. Sasuke pulled her to her feet.

"Now, you have a goal." Sasuke told her. "Now, we have something for you to work towards… and that makes this next step all the easier.

"What's the next step?" Hanabi asked.

"Hmph." Sasuke grunted. "I'll never claim to be an expert on your clan, Hanabi… but I know the basics of it. Where my clan failed was our intense emotions, our frighteningly strong proneness to hatred when we lose those we love…" He paused for a moment. "The Hyuga's weakness is their unwillingness to change. Even before they joined Konoha, the Hyuga practiced that… frankly _barbaric_ system of sealing the branch families, forcing them into servitude for the head branch." He curled his lip distastefully. "But you're different."

"I-I am?" Hanabi said.

"I've never met a Hyuga who isn't even more stoic than I am." Sasuke said. "You? I could compare you to the dobe with how much you annoy me. Or Sakura, even." He sighed. "I'm not saying it's a sure thing, that you and your sister will be able to change the Hyuga. But… I'd say you two have a good shot. And with me training you? I think that will be all the easier."

Hanabi grinned, in spite of her still slightly loopy state. "What are we waiting for then, Sasuke-sensei?" she said, her energy revitalized. "Let's get training!"

Sasuke allowed a chuckle to fall past his lips. "Alright," he said, smirking. "Let's get started."

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave me a review telling me what you think! It takes thirty seconds out of your day to bring an ol' writer a lot of joy, so please, just do it, :). The third chapter should be out relatively soon, so stay tuned!  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the third chapter, hot off of the press for you guys. Enjoy! And be sure to leave a review... I'll try to reply to as many as I can.**

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Uchiha Sasuke was a very intense person, Hanabi had come to realize. He did _everything_ with such ferocity, such passion, that it was truly astounding - willpower simply seemed to come naturally to him, for every action he took had a motive, every punch, every kick, designed with a specific purpose in mind.

 _Every_ singlekick.

Like the one currently heading for her midsection. She tried to dodge it, she really did… but he was much too fast for her. The only reason she even _saw_ it coming was because he was purposefully slowing himself down, and he even, his leg was a mere blur.

Hanabi gasped as his foot slammed into her stomach, and she was sent flying back - at least five, ten meters, landing on her back. The wind had been knocked out of her, and she panted for breath, her entire body shuddering with exhaustion.

"Your taijutsu is sloppy." Sasuke said coolly, stepping up to her, peering down at her limp body with those mismatched eyes of his. He withdrew a flask of water from his pouch, taking a calm sip from it. "The Hyuga style is useful… against people who are equal, or below you. You won't stand a chance against someone who is even the slightest bit faster than you."

She groaned. "Then why don't I just get faster?" Hanabi said, forcing herself into a sitting position.

"Because you won't always be the fastest person around." Sasuke said.

"Oh yeah?" Hanabi retorted. "Who's faster than you?"

Sasuke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Yondaime in his prime." Sasuke said. "I'd say Naruto might have an edge on me when he has the Kyuubi's chakra cloak activated… but my sharingan can make up the gap there."

"So basically, a dead guy, and somebody who you'll probably _never_ fight again." Hanabi said testily. "Saying that 'I won't always be the fastest person around' is a little hypocritical coming from you, isn't it?"

His lips twitched. "Maybe." Sasuke said. "But, by that logic, _I'll_ always be faster than you… which means I'm still right either way." He bent down, pressing the flask of water into her hands. "Drink up; I'm not going to have you dying on my watch… that'd be too much of an annoyance."

"Oh, an annoyance, huh?" Hanabi said, taking a swig of water, gargling it in her throat before gulping it down. "That's rich coming from _you_ of all people, Sasuke-sensei… I'm offended, really - you're more concerned with having to do a little paperwork then having your 'dear' student perish on your watch?"

"You know…" Sasuke said. "... you were a lot more tolerable when you were scared of me."

Hanabi blinked. Was she scared of him still? It had been near exactly a week since that day, when she had been dangled from a tree by her leg, and forced to spill out her deepest, darkest regrets. Sasuke had been unnecessarily rough that day… but, through that forcefulness she had found a goal. A _true_ goal, one that wasn't - as Sasuke had put it - 'a flimsy excuse to hide why she really wanted his tutelage'. He had been… right, she supposed. Everyone wanted to protect the ones they loved; that wasn't a true goal, an objective that she could set her sights on.

Reforming the Hyuga, however, was.

She remembered in her younger days, back when she had watched Neji face defeat in the chunin exams all those years ago, when Uzumaki Naruto had declared that he would change the Hyuga. But… he hadn't. Even with the whole world lapping at his toes with praise, with _every_ person in Konoha adoring him unconditionally, he hadn't even begun the process. Those had just been words, Hanabi thought, for nothing had changed; the branch family was still ever subservient, and the Caged Bird seal was still on their foreheads, enslaving them.

But… but… hmm...

Honestly, she couldn't give even herself a direct answer as to whether she was still scared of Sasuke or not. He was still intimidating, that was for sure. She'd seen first hand the destruction the rinnegan wrought on the village - reducing it to little more than a crater in the ground. Perhaps Sasuke only had _one_ of them… but he was many, many times more powerful than Pein had ever been, and the idea of that kind of strength… well, intimidated her.

The stoic demeanor he had seemed almost infallible, and he didn't take it easy on her - perhaps, he _was_ reducing himself to only a very small percentage of his potential power, but every taijutsu spar they had went on until she was a battered and bruised mess, every training session would end with her chakra nearing nothing, and every day he consistently lauded her numerous flaws in technique and style over her head.

Intimidating was one thing, but scary was another. _'No,'_ Hanabi thought, handing the flask of water back to him, watching as he downed yet another swig of it. _'I'm not scared of him. Not anymore.'_ She didn't feel safe around him, not by a long shot, but she didn't… she didn't feel in danger. Threatened. _Un_ safe.

"I was never scared of you." Hanabi retorted, grinning up at him.

He rolled his eyes.

"Come on." Sasuke said, reaching down, grasping her wrist and pulling Hanabi to her feet with ease. "If you've still got the energy to talk, then you've got the energy to train."

"Not taijutsu, _please_ not taijutsu." Hanabi insisted. "I can't walk home with a couple of bruised ribs and expect nee-chan or otou-sama not to raise a few questions."

He heaved a sigh. "Alright." Sasuke said. "Do you know how to tree climb?"

"I'm alright at it." Hanabi said. "I still fall every now and then, and I can't do that jumping from tree to tree thing yet, but I can run up the side of one."

Sasuke nodded approvingly. "That's good for your age." he commented. He paused for a moment, glancing upwards, his mismatched eyes staring up at the canopy of leaves above them. "Alright. We've been working on the fireball and your taijutsu for the past couple of days or so… I think now I'll get around to teaching you a new technique."

"A new technique?" Hanabi chirped, beaming at him, almost giddy with the prospect.

He shook his head, though a thin smirk curled his lips at her blatant enthusiasm. "A new technique." Sasuke stated once again. "I think it's about time you learn how to walk on water."

There was a pause.

"Cool!" Hanabi said. "I always wanted to know how you guys walked on water! Can we start now, now, now, now, now-"

"Calm down." Sasuke said, and she stopped her repetition of 'now', though she was still bouncing up and down, her lips twitching as if she still desperately wanted to say it. "It's not too hard. With that chakra control, I'm sure you'll have it down in no time. Follow me," he said, and she did - Sasuke quietly leading her to the river, the water flowing lazily before them, fish swirling visibly beneath the clear blue liquid.

"So… what am I supposed to do?" Hanabi asked, her hands interlinked behind her back, a sickly sweet smile on her face - one that showed just how desperate she was to learn how to water walk, because her smile was far, _far_ too wide and cheery to be entirely real.

"Water walking is a little more difficult than tree climbing." Sasuke explained calmly. "It requires a good deal more concentration at first, as the flow of chakra ebbs depending on the state of the water… calm water is exceedingly easy to walk on, but when you're in a battle, or walking on top of a river or something with a flow, it becomes much more difficult. You need to learn how to subconsciously maintain and change the chakra flow to your feet, which is something that can only come from practice."

Hanabi absorbed every word, a look of distinct interest on her soft features. She brushed a curl of brown hair behind her ear, pale eyes wide and unblinking, as if she were reading Sasuke's lips in an attempt to permanently memorize his advice.

"To start, you simply want a thin sheet of chakra across the bottom of your feet." Sasuke continued. "Enough to repel the water, but just like with tree climbing, you don't want enough that will disrupt the water itself and cause you to fall in. Try it now."

She took a deep, shuddering breath. Forming a simple seal, Hanabi closed her eyes, face scrunching up in concentration for a brief moment. Upon activation of her chakra, a small cloud of dirt kicked up around her feet.

"Alright." Hanabi said. "I'm ready."

"Go ahead, then." Sasuke said, gesturing towards the river in front of them.

Hanabi carefully extended her leg, the bottom of her feet glowing a dim blue. She gently laid it down against the water… and for a moment, hardly more than a second or so, her one foot managed to maintain balance. And then, she lost control - her leg shooting forward as if she had just slipped on a block of ice, and like clockwork, the young Hyuga was sent careening into the water.

She landed with a splash, and a moment later resurfaced, coughing and spluttering, glancing at her soaked clothes with distaste. "Why didn't you catch me?" she said, her voice heated, her face red.

"You have to learn the hard way." Sasuke said, though the smirk on his face betrayed his amusement. She huffed, heaving herself up out of the river and back onto the bank, her clothes thoroughly soaked.

"I'm not doing that again." Hanabi said fervently.

"You wanted me to teach you." Sasuke said flatly. "And this is me teaching you. Take it or leave it."

She scowled. "At least let me come back tomorrow with like… a bathing suit or something. I don't want to ruin my clothes," Hanabi said, pulling back the collar of her shirt, a grimace on her face at the uncomfortable feeling her wet clothes gave her.

"That's fine." Sasuke said. Again, she scowled at him. Hanabi flapped her sleeve in his general direction - spraying him with water, though Sasuke didn't even blink at it. "Shall we call it for today, then?"

"Sure." Hanabi said. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Alright." he said softly. Hanabi blinked and he was gone - only a thin wisp of smoke revealing that he had ever been there.

Hanabi groaned, peeling off her sopping wet shirt, revealing the thin fishnet undershirt she wore beneath it. "What a jerk," she grumbled, slinging it over her shoulder. She pressed her soaking wet brown locks out of her eyes, and then set off down the path, wishing that Sasuke hadn't chosen to teach her how to do water walking in _January_ of all months, where the liquid was cold enough that her teeth began to chatter on the walk home.

Nobody spared her a second look, as she waltzed through the streets of Konoha. When she got to the Hyuga compound's gates, however, that was a different story.

"Is… everything alright?" one of the gate guards asked, staring at her with a confused expression in his pale eyes.

"Just peachy." Hanabi grumbled, a little angsty about the fact that her clothes had hardly begun to dry, even by this point.

"Hanabi-sama, if something happened-" the other guard began.

"I decided to go… for a swim." Hanabi said, with finality. "That's all."

The guards exchanged a glance. "Alright, Hanabi-sama." they said in unision. After that, they let her pass. Several of the maids gave her looks of shock as she trekked through the house, leaving a wet trail behind her, but Hanabi didn't spare them a glance. She was more focused on getting back to her room for a nice, hot shower.

Unfortunately, that wasn't to happen.

The instant she opened her door, she knew something was wrong.

Her father was sitting on her bed, a stern look in his eyes, that seemingly became _sterner_ as he glimpsed her water-marred state. "O-otou-sama?" Hanabi said, her voice a little fearful.

Hyuga Hiashi sighed. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out that you've become Uchiha Sasuke's student, Hanabi?" he said.

"You-"

"I've had guards assigned to watch over you and your sister, whenever you two are outside of the compound." Hiashi said. " _Female_ guards when you two go to the onsen or something like that, so don't be worried about them-"

"I wasn't worried about that," Hanabi said hotly. "You have _guards_ assigned to me? How come?"

"That's not what you should be worried about." Hiashi said, standing up, his height dwarfing his daughter's considerably. "Uchiha Sasuke is… _dangerous_ , Hanabi. He has betrayed everyone he has ever known, and even those he doesn't know. Dealing with him is a sure fire way to put yourself at risk."

Hanabi frowned. "Otou-sama, _I_ was the one who came up to him." she said.

"I know." Hiashi said, folding his arms over his chest. "And…" He heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So far… none of the reports have come up with anything particularly… negative." Hiashi pursed his lips together. "And I know that you're going to continue to seek him out, regardless of whether I tell you to or not." Some might call him a neglectful father, but he certainly knew his daughters well. "I came here to tell you… be careful."

"I'm not an idiot, otou-sama." Hanabi said, flipping her still damp hair out of her eyes. "I knew what I was getting into when I asked him to become my teacher."

Hiashi sighed once again. "Has he been… mistreating you?" he asked.

"He hasn't been treating me like a princess, no." Hanabi said. "But he hasn't been like, abusing me or anything, otou-sama." Despite the fact that she was annoyed with her father meddling into her business, she knew he was just looking out for her. "Don't be such a worry wart," she said, poking his stomach playfully.

Something resembling a smile (or at least, as much as a Hyuga like Hiashi _could_ smile) appeared on his face. "I'll put my faith in you for now, then." Hiashi said. "If word gets to me that he's done anything…"

"I know, I know. You'll sic the clan on him, call the Hokage, probably try to get him imprisoned again, yada, yada, yada." A pause, Hanabi pursing her lips together. "One more thing, otou-sama. I'd tell those guards to stay away from me, at least when Sasuke-sensei and I are training." She flashed him a wink. "You don't want to know what sensei will do to them if he finds out."

Hiashi frowned. "We'll see." he said, stepping past Hanabi. "I'm sure you're intent on… taking a shower, or something of that sort, so I'll leave you to your own devices. Remember what I said, Hanabi."

"I will, otou-sama." Hanabi said.

She closed the door behind him.

* * *

No matter where he was, always there was a time or a place where Sasuke could truly… relax. Somewhere he could loosen the tension in his shoulders, somewhere he could let his guard down, somewhere where he could stop being Uchiha Sasuke and start being Sasuke.

In the days of his youth, that had been in the warmth and comfort of his mother's arms, or in the presence of his ever steadfast, ever loving elder brother.

In his adolescence, it had been with Team Seven, he couldn't deny that. Naruto's bright and bubbly (annoying), yet infectiously happy personality, Sakura's warmth and her natural ability to keep them in order, not to mention Kakashi's constant protective aura.

The long years of Orochimaru's training had sapped much of the peace and stability from his life… but even then, he had felt some degree of comfort in his dreams. Dreams weren't biased, they were entirely unfeeling - there, he didn't have to worry about Itachi, about Konoha, about his lingering doubts over whether his desertion had been the right course of action… he could simply bask in the memories of days long passed.

On the road with Team Hebi, and then the reformed Team Taka, he hadn't had… any peace; not in the slightest. Then, his emotions were dominated by nothing but hatred… and anger, and all consuming sorrow. Even his dreams hadn't been spared, for his nights were filled with tossing and turning, or reliving the worst moments of his life - the massacre, shoving his hand through Naruto's lung without a second thought, watching the life fade from his brother's eyes…

Now, he had a new peace. Team Seven was no longer an 'official' team - they didn't go on missions together, but Naruto and Sakura would forsake themselves if they didn't go out of their way to drag Sasuke somewhere at least once a day. Sure, he would shoot an insult at Naruto without mercy. Sakura would be subject to at least half a dozen of his patented 'Uchiha' glares in the first hour. And Kakashi?

Well, Kakashi was a fairly minimal presence nowadays. Since the war, Tsunade had slowly been siphoning her duties as Hokage onto Kakashi - it had begun with paperwork, Tsunade teaching Kakashi the basics of putting together reports, organizing missions, things of that nature… then it had escalated. Allowing Kakashi to sit in on important meetings, conduct trade deals on his own, and sometimes even representing Tsunade when giving speeches or meeting with high ranking nobility.

He wasn't 'officially' the Hokage as of yet. The hat was still technically Tsunade's, though by this point the vast majority of her powers had been vested in Kakashi. It was only a matter of time, as they went about organizing the ceremony, putting together the arrangements to have his head installed on the monument, Naruto whining steadily in the background about why he couldn't be the Rokudaime - though all of them had agreed in the end that Naruto deserved a few years of peace and relaxation before that kind of responsibility was thrust on him.

Regardless of whether Kakashi was there or not, Sasuke knew that he could truly relax while in the former Team Seven's presence. Naruto was still bright and bubbly, if a little more attached and forthcoming about his brotherly love for Sasuke. Sakura was… different, that much Sasuke was sure of; gone the always sweet and loving Sakura (at least, around Sasuke), replaced by a strong and independent kunoichi that could send an unsuspecting shinobi flying a hundred meters with a single punch.

But they were still Team Seven. They accepted him, even when he didn't accept himself. And that was what he needed, even if Sasuke wasn't entirely willing to admit that to himself in the present moment.

Sasuke sat on the floor of a clearing, his legs crossed in front of him. On either side of him were Naruto and Sakura - and as of right now, they were currently embroiled in a rather intense battle of…

… rock, paper, scissors.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" the both of them chanted in unison, fiery looks in their eyes. Both of them just happened to chose paper… and immediately, an outburst spurted from both of their lips.

After all, that was the tenth time they had managed to draw each other in rock paper scissors in the past twenty minutes.

"You are such a cheater!" Sakura said, exasperated.

"I am not!" Naruto shot back. "You're the cheater!

"Oh yeah?" Sakura countered. "Let's do it again, then!"

"You're on!"

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Both of them picked rock.

"Argh!"

Sasuke shook his head slowly, his arm resting across his lap, his limp sleeve flapping in the breeze. It was blissfully cool in the clearing - the temperature was near perfect, warm enough that you didn't need a jacket, but cold enough that you weren't going to attract swarms of flies either.

He took a deep breath, and then let it out, allowing the relaxing feeling to spread through his veins as if it were a liquid. A second deep breath, and then a third. He truly felt at peace, even with Sakura and Naruto's still continuing argument going on in the background.

However, like most peaceful and generally nice things in Sasuke's life, it was cut short.

"Oi! Sasuke-sensei!"

Sasuke repressed a groan. And out of the trees, in front of him, came Hanabi - storming towards the three members of Team Seven, a fiery look in her eye, a twig sticking out of her brown hair though she seemed not to care. Clad in what was obviously a conservative one piece swimming suit - though with a pair of black shorts jerked on over top of it - she had clearly prepared for what was supposed to be their training session.

Sakura and Naruto, in near perfect unison just as they had in rock paper scissors, blinked. "Sasuke… sensei?" Sakura said, her voice sounding… distinctly confused, and with good reason.

Naruto eased himself up onto his feet. "Aren't you Hinata's little sister?" he said, tilting his head to the side. "What are you doin' calling Sasuke 'Sasuke-sensei'?" Naruto murmured. "Sasuke's not exactly the teaching type if you hadn't noticed."

Sakura stood as well. "Yeah… Sasuke-kun a teacher?" She let out a chuckle. "I mean, just the idea of that is…"

Sasuke sighed, and rose to his feet. "Naruto… Sakura." Sasuke said. "Meet Hyuga Hanabi… my student."

There was a pause.

A bird scythed through the air above them. A breeze blew, gently lifting up their hair slightly, before setting it back down once the wind had lessened.

Then, the explosion. Sasuke had been expecting it, but Hanabi was caught unaware and ended up jumping at least a meter into the air when…

"YOU'RE A SENSEI NOW?!"

Sasuke cringed ever so slightly. "… yes." he said after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wha… how… h-how did you become a sensei?" Naruto stammered, while Sakura merely stared at him, her mouth agape like a fish's. "He- uh, he- he didn't force you, did he?" Naruto asked, turning to Hanabi with blue eyes wild and a little worried.

Hanabi huffed, folding her arms over her chest. Even in the presence of the totally awesome Uzumaki Naruto, she refused to let herself be treated like some kind of… victim, just for the 'crime' of being Uchiha Sasuke's student.

"No." she said firmly. "I was the one who asked him to become my sensei."

"And… you… you said yes?" Sakura said, looking at Sasuke with an astonished expression on her face.

"Not at first, no." Sasuke said. "She was persistent… and I underestimated her." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I gave her a trial that I expected her to fail, and told her that if she passed, I would train her. She passed - so I kept my word, and took her on as my student."

"Why would you pick the teme of all people to be your teacher?" Naruto said, turning to Hanabi once again. "I mean, seriously! You could have asked anyone, even me!"

'That would have been nice to know earlier,' Hanabi thought bitterly, though she was dead set on sticking to her guns. "Sasuke-sensei is a very good teacher." she insisted. "He uh… he's a little rough-" Naruto and Sakura snorted in unison. "- but he's really taught me a ton in just a week!"

Naruto folded his hands over his chest. "Really." the blonde said, his voice clearly disbelieving. He took a step towards Hanabi, and blatantly waved his hand in front of her eyes.

She blinked. "What… are you doing?" Hanabi said.

"Checking to make sure you're not blind or something." Naruto said. "'cuz there's no way we're talking about the same Uchiha Sasuke here."

"You're an idiot." Sasuke grunted. He jerked his head in the direction of another training ground, one that would hopefully be empty. "Come on," he said to Hanabi. "We need to get started now, or we aren't going to make any progress today."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Sakura said, skidding to a halt about a meter in front of Sasuke, blocking his path. "You are not going to just leave like that. Seriously? You're a teacher now, Sasuke? You got out of prison less than a month ago! You were a criminal! Why are you teaching a little girl how to be a kunoichi?"

"I am not a little girl!" Hanabi grumbled, though her protest went unnoticed.

"Plus she's a Hyuga, Sasuke!" Naruto chimed in, sliding into place beside Sakura, the two making up an immovable wall whose sole purpose was to annoy Sasuke. "Do you know how crazy they are? They put seals on their own clan, Sasuke, can you imagine what her dad would do if he found out about you teaching his daughter?"

"He already knows." Hanabi said.

This time, her words most certainly were noticed.

Even Sasuke blinked. "What?" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura said in unison.

"I was going to tell you today, Sasuke-sensei." Hanabi said. "But he, uh… kind of cornered me in my room after we finished up yesterday. He warned me about you… said that I shouldn't trust you."

"Did he tell you to stop training with me?" Sasuke said.

She shook her head. "He said that… as long as nothing too bad happens, it's… fine; that he respects my judgement on the matter."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto and Sakura. "If her father of all people is alright with me training her, I see no reason why the two of you should be worried."

The two of them had not interacted much with Hinata and Hanabi's father. But, they thought, if he was anything like Neji… and that he had invested his trust in Hanabi's judgement…

"Okay… okay, fine." Naruto said, holding up his hands in surrender. "You can train her, whatever. Just… try not to kill the kid, alright, Sasuke?"

"Fine." Sasuke said.

"And you," Sakura said, rounding on Hanabi. "If you have any injuries - a sprained ankle, a broken rib, even a small case of the cold - you will go to the hospital, and you will ask for Haruno Sakura. I will find out if you go to any other doctors. Do I make myself clear?"

Hanabi gulped. She was a courageous girl, but even after a week's experience of dealing with Uchiha Sasuke, she was still the slightest bit… really intimidated of Sakura. There was a reason why even the war hero Uzumaki Naruto ran screaming in the other direction whenever that vein began to throb on Sakura's abnormally wide forehead.

"Yes, ma'am." Hanabi said demurely, her voice muted.

"Good." Sakura said, not so subtly cracking her knuckles. "Naruto, let's go." the feisty pink haired kunoichi said. "Let's let Sasuke and his… student," She said the word almost angrily. "have some privacy."

"Alright, Sakura-chan." Naruto said softly.

And the two of them strolled off, both of them glancing back at the two every few paces, as if to find Sasuke suddenly strangling Hanabi the instant their backs were turned.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "My recommendation," he said softly to Hanabi. "is to never let those two into your life. They'll just keep pushing, and pushing, and after a while, nothing becomes personal when you're with them."

A thin smile curled Hanabi's lips, much to Sasuke's surprise. "But you still love them, don't you?" she said, almost teasingly, her pale eyes flickering with amusement. She was giving him a look, as if she was suddenly seeing him in a whole new light.

Sasuke didn't answer, though he couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face. "Come on." he said, shoving a hand into his pocket casually.

Hanabi didn't move, though. "Oh!" she said, jumping slightly. "I almost forgot to tell you, Sasuke-sensei. Um… otou-sama saw fit to… assigned some guards to watch me… and well, some of the things he said makes me think that he has someone watching you train me."

"Is that right." Sasuke said, his voice almost bland. "Alright then."

She blinked. "You're not… going to… 'deal' with them?" Hanabi asked.

"It wouldn't be that hard." he muttered. "But… I'm still technically on probation, and as much as I'd like to put some Hyuga in their place, I'm pretty sure I'd be a little rougher than what would be absolutely necessary."

"And?"

"Well, I wouldn't care about the complaints or attempts to get me arrested the Hyuga would try if I took out a few of their guards. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi would."

"Oh." Hanabi said.

"Let's go… they can watch if they want. Until I start teaching you some techniques I'd prefer kept private, they could watch me sleep for all I care." Sasuke said.

Strangely, Hanabi giggled. "Are you sure about that one?" Hanabi said. "You wouldn't want the entire village to know that you like… I dunno, snore or something, would you?"

"I don't snore." Sasuke said.

"Sure you don't." Hanabi said slyly.

He stared at her for a second. "Whatever." Sasuke grunted. "I'm sick of talking; we're going now or you can train on your own." And with that, he strode off into the trees. She chased after him, as ungraceful as a Hyuga could be, snapping twigs and ducking beneath branches in her effort to keep up with Sasuke. On the other hand, he just seemed to glide through the woods - as if any natural obstacles simply bent around his will in order to not impede his path.

When she finally stumbled out of the other end of the treeline, Sasuke was waiting beside her by the same river. Hanabi walked up to him, yanking a twig out of her hair, wiping dirt off the front of her bathing suit.

He didn't need to tell her the next step - it was plainly obvious. With a grunt, Hanabi shrugged off the shorts she had worn over her one piece bathing suit, chucking them behind her unceremoniously.

"Alright." she said, more to herself than anything. "Thin sheet across the bottom of my feet… I need to… uh… make sure it's adapting to the current of the water…" She looked hopefully at Sasuke, and he gave her a minute nod of approval. "… and, I've got to make sure it's not too much chakra or it'll blow me off- no, wait! It can't be too much, or it'll disrupt the water and I'll fall in. Right?"

"Right." Sasuke said.

"Awesome!" Hanabi said, punching the air. She clapped her hands together, a grin on her face. "Let's do this."

Whatever nervousness she still had, Hanabi swallowed down. Once more, dust kicked up around where she stood - her feet glowing a very light shade of blue. Sasuke watched as she cautiously placed a foot down on the water… it hovered just an inch above, the chakra nearly touching the liquid, and then she set it down.

It held. Her grin widened, but as she lifted up her other foot, the foot on the water gave, and she plummeted down into the water once again. She didn't surface for several seconds, but when she did, it was with a look of poorly concealed embarrassment on her face.

"Stupid water!" she grumbled, hoisting herself up onto the bank once again. "Stupid, stupid water!"

Sasuke sighed. A smirk found its way onto his lips, as her third attempt at water walking went about as successfully as her second attempt had. Every curse that a typical eleven year old girl would know (the worst of them being repeated cries of 'stupid jerk water!') spilled from her lips, for the fourth attempt proved little better.

'We're going to be out here a while.' Sasuke thought, sitting down on the ground. 'Might as well get comfortable.'

Strangely enough, the sounds of Hanabi fruitlessly attempting to walk on water were rather relaxing to Sasuke.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! As always, if you enjoy this story, be sure to leave a review. Don't forget to favorite and follow as well, and to have an awesome day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Been a little while since I've updated this, but oh well. Here's the fourth chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it! Don't forget to leave a review.**

* * *

"I'm hungry!" Hanabi declared, flopping backwards onto the grass.

Sasuke exhaled. How exactly was one supposed to get some meditation done when surrounded by people like Hanabi? Between her, Sakura, Naruto, and to a certain extent Kakashi, Sasuke felt as if his heart was rearing to pop at any given minute.

"Feed yourself then." he said, not even bothering to move from his 'meditative' pose, Sasuke seated cross legged on the ground with his single arm resting languidly across the grass before him. "You've got money."

Hanabi groaned, flipping over on the ground and peeking at Sasuke through a curtain of sweaty, grimy brown hair. "So do you…!" she mumbled. "And besides, you're my sensei. Aren't you supposed to feed your students?"

He snorted. "My teacher tied one of us to a pole, and forbade us from feeding him lunch - even though he hadn't even eaten breakfast or dinner the night before. I think _my_ method is a little more forgiving then that."

Hanabi blinked. "Was it you who got tied to the pole?" she asked, lifting her head up further. There was a teasing little smirk playing on her lips.

Sasuke felt his eye twitch. "No." he said fervently. "It was Naruto."

Again, she blinked. " _The_ Uzumaki Naruto got tied to a pole?" Hanabi said, her mouth a tad bit agape. "Really?"

"Naruto wasn't always a war hero." Sasuke said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He was… and still is an idiot. He's just got better at disguising it from the public."

"He is _not_ an idiot," Hanabi insisted, though she really only had Hinata's ramblings to go on when it came to Naruto's actual personality. "I mean, he saved the world, didn't he?"

"So did I." Sasuke said. "And I'm an idiot, too… though to a lesser extent than he is."

Hanabi snickered. "Please… if _the_ Naruto is an idiot, then how are you one? I mean, aside from deserting Konoha, how would you be even close to stupid?" she asked, kicking her legs against the ground. Her head was propped up on top of her arms, and there was a smile on her face.

A strained look appeared on Sasuke's face. "There's a lot of reasons why…" he said, after a moment's pause. "And none that I'm willing to divulge as of right now. Get back to your training."

Hanabi, once again, rolled over and flopped onto her back. "But I'm tired!" she said. "And hungry! Feed me, Sasuke-sensei, _feed meee_!"

"I'm not your piggy bank." Sasuke said tersely. "If you want something to eat… hmm… go out and hunt for it. I'm sure that will do you some good."

"I'm not going to go out and _hunt_ for my food." Hanabi said, rolling her eyes. "Jeez, Sasuke-sensei, what era do we live in? Just stop being a cheapskate and buy me some food!"

"Stop annoying me. _Then_ , and only then, I might consider buying you something." Sasuke said.

"B-but… annoying you is my job!" Hanabi insisted. "Where would you be without me, Sasuke-sensei?"

"In my apartment, reading a book, surrounded by blissful _silence_." Sasuke said. "Not out here training some brat because she wants to reform her archaic clan."

"I am not a brat!" Hanabi said. "And my clan isn't archaic!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…" Hanabi flushed slightly. "Maybe it's a _little_ archaic." she admitted.

He rolled his eyes. "A little… yeah." he said, chuckling. Sasuke leaned back, uncrossing one of his legs and allowing it to stretch out in front of him. "There's a lot of things wrong with Konoha, but I wouldn't call any of them 'archaic'. The Hyuga, though?" Another chuckle, a little drier this time. "I can't imagine the kind of thought process that goes behind enslaving the majority of your family."

"Yeah…" Hanabi said sadly. "I mean… I… no, there's not really any reason for it." she murmured. "Just a byproduct of a darker time, I 'spose."

"There are plenty of those 'byproducts' out there." Sasuke said. "And… unfortunately, no matter how obvious it may be to us that they need to be torn down, there's two other people out there that think they should remain forever."

"But those are just old geezers." Hanabi said, her sadness wiped away in an instant, replaced by a grin that could rival Naruto's. "And I mean, they're gonna be gone in like ten, twenty years, right?"

"Maybe." Sasuke said neutrally. He flicked a blade of grass off of his leg, a sigh escaping his lips. "If you're not going to get up and train, then there's no need for me to be here." he murmured, climbing to his feet with some difficulty - he still wasn't entirely used to the new calculations that came with only having one arm… even the great Uchiha Sasuke had some balance problems when it came to a change that significant.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Hanabi said, climbing to her feet with the grace of a full fledged kunoichi - though her messy hair and flushed skin ruined the image of elegance that normally came along with it. "I'm still hungry here!" she said, rubbing her stomach in the most obvious manner possible.

"So?"

"What'd you mean, 'so'?" Hanabi retorted. "Feed me!"

He sighed. "If I buy you something to eat, then will you finally stop annoying me?" Sasuke said.

"I'll consider it." Hanabi said, grinning.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Fine, then." he said. "We're going somewhere _I_ want to go, though." His lip curled, and his brow furrowed. "... Ichiraku's."

She blinked. "I thought you hated Ichiraku's?"

"It's cheap." Sasuke said. "And… trust me on this one. When you get to know that idiot, Naruto, for long enough, you'll acquire a liking for ramen - whether you want to or not."

Hanabi laughed. "So long as I'm getting free food, I think I'll be alright." she said.

"Let's go then." Sasuke said, jerking his head. He set off, and she scurried forward, forced to take three steps for every single one of his long strides. She reached a hand up, tugging on the empty sleeve of his missing arm.

"So!" she said. "First we did the fireball, then water walking… now what?"

He bit the inside of his cheek to repress a groan. Sasuke really was _not_ cut out for this whole 'sensei' business… he even started to empathize with Kakashi a tad, because having to deal with a little brat like Hanabi, while at the same time having to teach her jutsus that she _wouldn't_ get into trouble or blow herself up with was a pain. And Kakashi had been forced to do it three times over, with kids like _Naruto_ and Sasuke himself, both of them having been much worse than Hanabi could ever hope to be.

"Probably another fire technique." Sasuke said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I have one in mind…" He didn't, but of course, Hanabi had the unfortunate preoccupation of being on a 'need to know' basis. She probably had some delusion that he actually knew what he was doing… in which case, Hanabi was sorely mistaken.

"Learning fire techniques is a huge pain in the butt." Hanabi exclaimed. "I mean, do you ever get used to that kind of… 'ashy' feeling that you get in your throat afterwards? It sucks! I have to drink like ten glasses of water to get rid of it."

He shook his head slowly. "You get used to it… slowly." Sasuke said, and he smirked as her face fell. "I have a question to ask you."

"Then ask it!" Hanabi said. "Don't be nervous, Sasuke-sensei…" she murmured, grinning once more - really, that seemed to be a natural function for her. "I won't bite your _other_ arm off."

For the third time in so few minutes, Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Why am _I_ having to foot the bill for a Hyuga's lunch?" he said gruffly. "I'd expect your clan is probably the richest in the village, no?"

"We're up there." Hanabi said, though they both knew that was an understatement at best. Hyuga wealth could hardly be fathomed - acquired from a mixture of skillful inheritances, dodging taxes, and many a successful mission. "But… _I_ kind of insisted on it. I kinda wanted to have a bit more independence, y'know? So instead of just handing me a bank card with all the money I could ever want on it, they give me an allowance based on what I do around the house, and that's all I get for pocket change pretty much."

Sasuke clicked his teeth. "Isn't that a little bit… hmm… cliched?" he said.

She blinked. "What'd you mean, 'cliched'?" Hanabi said.

"The young heiress wanting to seek 'independence' from her overbearing father in any way she can." Sasuke said. "I think I read that in a book somewhere… though I don't do much reading when it comes to the sappy romance stories that kind of situation accompanies."

"I am not a cliche!" Hanabi said heatedly, sticking her tongue out at Sasuke. "You're a cliche!"

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"What, you don't see it? Mister-" She adopted a poor impersonation of his demeanor, completely with stiff arms at her sides and a scowl that would cower a kindergartener. "'I'm going to go avenge my clan, and be a total jerkwad in the process… rawr!" She bared her teeth at him, though she couldn't stop herself from grinning. "Meet me, the Emo man!"

Sasuke looked at her for a moment… and just slowly shook his head for a good thirty seconds or so. "I… don't even know what to say to that." he murmured, truthfully at that. "I really don't."

"Good!" Hanabi said, her grin only widening. A pause, very brief - though that was practically an eternity for Hanabi. "You're still going to buy me Ichiraku's… right?" She cast him a nervous look, her grin turning decidedly anxious. "cuz… I haven't done much around the house lately, and as for pocket change… um… well, I spent the last of it on that dumb chakra paper you wanted me to get."

"You get two bowls, maximum." Sasuke said.

"Yay! Best sensei, ever!" Hanabi declared, pumping her fist in the air.

Once again, he shook his head slowly.

Sasuke just hoped he and Hanabi didn't happen upon Naruto and Sakura while they were at Ichiraku's. He didn't like to even _think_ about the dent that the blonde idiot would make in his wallet, when he inevitably suckered Sasuke into paying for both his and Sakura's meals.

He groaned. _'If they're at Ichiraku's…'_ Sasuke thought. _'There goes that sword sharpener I had my eye on.'_

* * *

There was a rule in Konoha when it came a certain duo.

If you wanted to keep a secret, or at the very least keep something under wraps for a good while… do _not_ tell Uzumaki Naruto, or Haruno Sakura the secret. Both of them were radically different, and yet they were the same where it counted - both of them cursed with big mouths, and the innate ability to blurt out the most secretive of things at the worst possible times.

It might seem silly to think that Sasuke and Hanabi's 'secret' aka the fact he was training her, wasn't already out considering they were walking about in broad daylight together - but it really wasn't. Sasuke tended to keep his head down, and other than his rinnegan, there really wasn't anything about him that would make people look twice. So long as that particular dojutsu was kept hidden by a shroud of raven hair, he was perfectly anonymous. As for Hanabi… well, she was easily recognizable as a Hyuga - white eyes went hand in hand with that sort of classification - but she wasn't well known enough to be immediately recognizable as the clan head's daughter.

Regardless of the reasons why, it wasn't even a rumor yet that Sasuke had taken on a protege, let alone someone of Hanabi's birth status.

At least, that was what Sasuke assumed.

Until…

"Ah, Sasuke-kun!" Teuchi, the proud owner of Ichiraku's, said as he stepped through the flap. Hanabi came in soon after. "And your new student, hmm?"

"Wait, you know?" Hanabi said, her cheeks pinkening.

Sasuke grit his teeth. "Naruto…" he muttered, glaring at Teuchi as if the elderly man was the blonde idiot.

Teuchi offered him a smile. "Actually, it was Sakura-chan this time." he said. "I believe she was in the middle of a conversation with that blonde Yamanaka girl, and… well, to quote her, it just 'slipped out'."

Well, that settled it. If _Ino_ of all people knew about it, then everyone in the village did.

Sasuke let out a groan. "The usual." he said, dropping into a stool with an exasperated look on his face. Hanabi had to sort of climb up on top of the stool, her head hardly coming up to Sasuke's shoulder even when she was seated on it.

"And what do you want, little miss Hyuga?" Teuchi asked.

"Uh… I guess a miso ramen would be cool." Hanabi said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Oh! And can I get a carton of milk with that?"

"Of course." Teuchi said. "Coming right up!" He flashed them another smile, before ducking back into the shop, where his daughter - Ayame, if Sasuke recalled correctly - was stooped over a boiling pot of water.

Hanabi grinned dumbly for a moment - before she remembered that probably _everyone_ knew about her tutelage under Sasuke now. She turned to look at him. "Why do your friends have to be such big gossipers?" she whined.

Sasuke let out yet another groan. "I…" he muttered. "am going to kill those idiots."

"Wasn't it Haruno Sakura that spilled the secret? I mean… I'm gonna guess you're including Naruto when it comes to 'idiots', so why would you wanna kill him too?" Hanabi asked.

Sasuke glanced at her. "Because he probably had something to do with it regardless." he deadpanned. "And really, I think I could find a dozen other reasons for me to want to kill him either way."

Hanabi shrugged. "Can we at least eat before you go do that?"

His eyes narrowed. "Make it quick." Sasuke grunted after a moment. She beamed, and kicked her legs as they waited, her fingers tapping on the countertop. Hanabi began to hum a little tune under her breath, and Sasuke could swear his eye began to twitch. When she began to actually _sing_ , he put his foot down. "Stop that." he said.

"Stop what?" Hanabi asked innocently, though her grin was devious.

"Making… _noise_." Sasuke said. "Just stop."

She frowned. "How am I supposed to just stop making noise in general?" she asked. "What about the noise I make when I breath? Should I stop that, too?"

"I'll stop it for you if you keep this up." Sasuke said, his teeth gritted.

She stuck her tongue out at him again. "Stop being so grumpy!" Hanabi said. "You're acting like me _singing_ is on par with like… I dunno… someone dancing on your grave or something."

His eye twitched. " _Grumpy?_ " Sasuke said, as if that word could not _possibly_ hope to describe the levels of angst that Sasuke was forced to endure on a daily basis. Between Naruto, Sakura, and the newest addition of Hanabi… it was a miracle that he hadn't had a heart attack yet.

Hanabi giggled. "It isn't good for you." she said, reaching up and poking him playfully on the cheek. "All that stress is gonna kill you someday. Why don't you like… try smiling or something?"

"Smile…" Sasuke muttered, slowly turning to look at her. His eyes narrowed, a thin smirk curled his lips. "... I would rather set myself on fire then do that." he said seriously.

She giggled again. "Somehow, I knew you'd say something like that." Hanabi said.

There wasn't any talking after that - for not a minute later, their bowls of steaming hot ramen were plunked down in front of them. While they didn't dive into them with the gusto that someone like Naruto might have expressed, they both were still hungry, and the next little while was spent in the comfortable sound of slurping, and gulps from Hanabi hungrily drinking down her carton of milk.

Once they were done, the two of them got up to leave. "Come back soon!" Teuchi said, waving at their backs. "And try not to kill the poor kid, Sasuke-kun!"

"I'll try…" Sasuke grumbled, his face dark. He glared at the nearest person when they stepped out of the ramen shop, and the poor bystander scurried off, a scandalized look on her face. "There's your food." he said to Hanabi. "You'd better be satisfied, because you're not going to get anything else from me today. Same time, same place tomorrow…"

"... just like usual!" Hanabi chirped, grinning. "Thanks for the food, Sasuke-sensei!" she said, rubbing her belly obviously. "See ya tomorrow!"

He gave her a slight nod, and then, they went their separate ways.

When Hanabi got back to her house, passed through all the usual guards and such (she wasn't soaking wet and irritable this time, so she went through without a hitch), she was half-expecting half-dreading what was to await in her room.

"This is happening way too often…" she muttered, as she saw the familiar form of her sister, Hinata, sitting on the foot of her bed.

Hinata stood up, smoothing out the front of her ever present lavender jacket. "Imouto," Hinata began, in her best impression of a 'stern sister' voice, though it only served to make her already cute demeanor that much more adorable. "When were you going to tell me that you were training underneath Sasuke-kun?"

Hanabi groaned, palming her forehead. "Who told you?" she mumbled, her head downcast.

"Ino-san." Hinata said resolutely. "But that is _not_ an answer to my question, imouto!" she continued, wagging her finger at Hanabi as if talking to a misbehaving dog. "Why didn't you tell me? Do- do you not trust me enough?"

Hanabi rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I… um… didn't want to worry you." she said. "Not to mention you'd probably object and I'd have to convince you that it's alright and… yeah, I just kind of wanted to avoid that whole headache."

Hinata folded her arms across her chest. "Of course I would object!" Hinata said. "I'm- I'm sure that Sasuke-kun is a very nice person… b-but… the things he's done! What would-"

"Otou-sama said that he trusts my judgement." Hanabi said firmly. "If _he_ of all people trusts me, then I don't see why you can't either."

Hinata blinked. "Otou-sama already knows?" she said. Hanabi nodded. "Oh… and…" Her cheeks turned faintly pink. "... he's okay with it?" Again, Hanabi nodded. "Oh… I… um…"

When it came to the Hyuga household, there was a clear hierarchy. And when their otou-sama, aka the head of the entire _clan_ said that something was okay, that was the final decision on that matter.

Hanabi grinned. "I appreciate the concern, nee-chan," she said, ruffling Hinata's hair - despite the age difference, Hinata was only a scant inch or so taller than Hanabi. "But I've got it covered, yeah? And besides… if you're precious 'Naruto-kun'-" Hinata flushed. "- trusts Sasuke-sensei, then why wouldn't you?"

"I guess…" Hinata mumbled. She groaned, pushing Hanabi's head away from her hair. "Why do I always feel like a little kid around you?" she whined. "I'm supposed to be the older sister here!"

The younger of the two giggled. "You take care of me, and I'll take care of you in return, nee-chan." Hanabi said, smiling. "Sound good?"

"Mmm… I suppose." Hinata said.

Hanabi ruffled Hinata's hair again, and the indigo haired girl whined once more. "Look, how about you like… 'oversee' one of Sasuke-sensei's training sessions?" Hanabi suggested. "Maybe that'll stave off your worries, nee-chan."

Hinata smiled. "I'd like that." she said.

* * *

There were some things that might be odd to normal people that wouldn't seem odd to members of Team Seven.

Sasuke landing in the clearing in front of Naruto, drawing his sword and charging at the blonde was _not_ an uncommon occurrence to him. And so, Naruto began to bob and weave, hardly managing to dodge Sasuke's persistent swipes.

"What's up!" Naruto said, grinning, as if Sasuke trying to brutally murder him was just an everyday thing. "What'd you want to kill me for this time?"

"Take a guess." Sasuke grunted, managing to slice a thin cut across Naruto's forearm. Of course, it began to heal - courtesy of the Kyuubi - but the grimace of pain flickering across the blonde's face was as satisfying as he'd imagined it to be.

"Uh… you want to betray the village again?" Naruto guessed, though he was still grinning.

"I'm getting there, but no, not yet." Sasuke said. "Guess again." Still swiping, Naruto still hardly managing to dodge Sasuke's swipes - he was glad that the Uchiha wasn't using his sharingan, or else he'd have to sneak off and activate sage mode to avoid being disemboweled.

"Hmm…" Naruto hummed, executing a rather tricky maneuver that required him to dive between Sasuke's legs and spring upwards on the other side. He did a sort of forward somersault, landing just in time to turn around and side step a rather vicious thrust of Sasuke's blade. "I honestly can't think of anything I've done lately…" he admitted.

"Three words." Sasuke growled. "Sakura… and _Ino_."

"Oh." That was all that needed to be said, really. "What secret did they blab this time?" Naruto asked.

"Let's just say, I imagine I'm going to have to deal with a _lot_ of Hyuga trying to spy on me to make sure I'm not 'defiling' their heiress or something." Sasuke muttered.

"Ugh. Dealing with the Hyuga is not fun." Naruto said, and he of all people could definitely claim to have had more than a few experiences with that particular batch of white eyed taijutsu specialists.

Sasuke paused in his attacks purposefully, so that Naruto could get in his share of offense. Slipping a kunai from his pouch, Naruto wielded it with obvious proficiency - darting forward at Sasuke and slamming against the Uchiha with a barrage of swipes and slashes. Sasuke deflected them with just as much proficiency however, a series of _clings_ and _clangs_ echoing throughout the clearing.

When it came to Haruno Sakura, she seemed to have a third sense… at knowing when her medical skills would be needed, for even with the Kyuubi's healing ability and the sharingan's prowess at avoiding injury, the other idiots she had the (mis)fortune of calling her teammates always seemed to get hurt, broken bones being a minimum after a vicious spar between the two of them.

She dropped in about five minutes later, a smile on her face. "Hey, guys!" Sakura chirped, balancing a coffee cup in one hand, and a first aid kit in the other. "I've got a shift at the hospital later, so no…" She paused, turning to face Sasuke - if she had a fourth sense, it was when she knew the Uchiha glare was being pointed at her. "What's up?" she asked.

"You're dead." Sasuke promptly announced, and leapt at her.

Again, it was fortunate that he didn't have his sharingan activated. Sakura could _barely_ , and even that was a stretch, keep up with Sasuke's slashes… and that was likely when he wasn't going full out either. "What did I do?" Sakura said after a few minutes, huffing and puffing, her fingers dancing over her thigh and knitting a thin cut his blade had made there.

"Something about you and Ino." Naruto said, having taken up a meditative pose - the skin around his eyes occasionally shifting to that ever familiar orange pigment.

The color seemed to drain from Sakura's face. "It just slipped out, Sasuke-kun!" she insisted, ducking a slash of his sword and rolling out of the way of a swinging kick. "Honest!"

"I _am not grumpy!_ " Sasuke hissed.

It really seemed like the two sides of Team Seven were on different pages here… but in the end, it was the same exact scenario that typically occurred at the twilight of their training sessions.

"So… what's the plan with Hinata's little sister, anyway?" Naruto asked, wincing as Sakura's healing hands helped to accelerate the healing of his broken ribs.

A sickening _crack_ tore through the air. Sasuke massaged his bleeding nose, having just set it - though it was going to swell if Sakura didn't get to it soon. "What do you mean?" Sasuke said.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What he means," she said matter of factly. "Is that just because Hanabi-san's father is alright with you teaching his daughter doesn't mean we're perfectly on board with it as well." She sighed. "You can't be teaching her just because, Sasuke. You have to have some sort of… I don't know… plan for her? Perhaps a way to pass on your legacy? Your techniques? The whole situation just seems peculiar."

"I…"

For the first time in a while, Sasuke was caught… flat footed. A plan. He really hadn't come up with any plan on what he was doing with Hanabi - so far, he'd just been teaching her a few techniques. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to them.

A way to pass on his legacy.

His techniques.

Perhaps, whatever little honor he had left.

And it wasn't as if he hadn't begun the process already, either. The fireball jutsu was a rite of passage for members of the Uchiha clan - and Hanabi had mastered it in an hour. Again, perhaps she was older than the typical age an Uchiha would learn it at - but it was impressive nonetheless, _very_ impressive.

Hanabi… perhaps she didn't 'respect' him quite yet, but she admired him. And he had to admit, at least internally, that he admired her a little in return. She was spunky, quick witted, and clearly willing to learn. Ninety nine percent of people wouldn't have had the guts to seek _him_ of all people out for training - but not only had she done that, but she'd managed to sucker him into actually accepting it.

' _A way to pass on my legacy.'_ he mused.

"Hey… Naruto?" Sasuke said, as Sakura moved from said blonde's ribs to his ankle.

"Yeah, Sasuke?"

"You're an idiot."

Naruto grinned. "I love you too, Sasuke." he said.

"And Sakura?"

"Hmm?" she hummed.

"You're still as annoying as ever." Sasuke deadpanned.

She grinned as well. "Your ways of showing affection are… _terrible_." Sakura said, poking him in the chest. "But thanks."

"I hate you both." Sasuke said.

"We get it…!" Naruto said, exasperated. "You love us, Sasuke, don't try and deny it!"

He sighed.

But honestly, he couldn't help the smile that threatened to blossom on his face.

And still, of course, lingering in his mind…

 _A way to pass on my legacy._

* * *

 **Not much plot, but a fair bit of character development. Expect that to be the backbone of this early arc. Thanks for reading, do _not_ forget to leave a review if you liked it - I appreciate each and every one, and trust me, reviews will _always_ help encourage me to write more material like this for you guys.  
**

 **Have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Been a while since I've updated this story; but I hope the wait was worth it. Don't forget to leave a review if you like it, I appreciate each and every one, and I'll review if I can. Even if you don't have an account, I'd still _really_ appreciate a guest review - reviews in general are just awesome! Eh, enough begging for reviews... I'll let you go and read the story now. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Where is he…?!" Hanabi muttered. She hung her head so that her long, brown hair shadowed her eyes. The tan colored kimono she was draped in seemed a tad too big for her, the sleeves falling past the tips of her fingers, and the hem brushing against her knees.

She leaned against the trunk of a tree, an irritated expression crossing her features. Hanabi counted the locations he could possibly be off on her fingers. _'Ichiraku's, the training grounds, the other training grounds… where on earth could Sasuke-sensei have gone?'_ she thought… it was what… noon? That was what she surmised from a quick glance up at the sun's position in the sky. Hanabi didn't picture Sasuke as being the type to sleep in until noon; he had to be up by now, but if so, where was he?

Hanabi scratched her head, truly perplexed; in the end, she had to conclude that for some reason… Sasuke had decided to sleep in for a day. Which was weird - but not only had she ever heard of an Uchiha doing something as casual as sleeping in, she had never even _fathomed_ the idea of Uchiha Sasuke even knowing what casual meant. The man was a machine, he didn't do 'normal' human things like the rest of the mortals like her… it just seemed improbable.

In any event, she didn't know where Sasuke lived. Hanabi knew that he had lived with Uzumaki Naruto right after he'd gotten out of prison - but he had let slip that he had gotten an apartment of his own quite recently, though even the part of the village it was located in was lost on her. And it wasn't as if she could just flip through a yellow book and find out where he lived, or ask politely for directions; who on earth would know where Sasuke lived?

Well, that one was obvious, actually. It wasn't going to be some random pedestrian that she tapped on the shoulder and asked - rather, it was likely to be the complete and total opposite of that. She felt her cheeks warm slightly.

' _He is your sensei's best friend, Hanabi!'_ she scolded herself internally. _'It's not like you'll be able to avoid him forever…'_ Though, there was a frighteningly large part of her that felt like donning orange and black, painting whiskers on her cheeks, and dying her hair blonde in preparation for meeting _the_ Uzumaki Naruto.

She shook her head, patting her cheeks as if that could banish the heat that was building up in then. She wasn't sure what she felt for Naruto. More likely than naught, it wasn't an actual crush or anything like that - just hero idolization, the kind of thing that just surrounded a person as famous as him, who had saved the world.

Still, she had to find him if she wanted to locate her sensei; if there was one person who knew where Sasuke was at all times, it was Naruto.

Thankfully, it probably wasn't going to be too difficult to find out where the loveable blonde was. Considering he was a. The most well known person in the village, and b. The loudest person in the village, Hanabi figured it would take her less than five minutes to find him.

It took her four minutes. _Strangely enough_ , Hanabi had no problem locating where Naruto was - he hadn't been present on her first sweep of Ichiraku's, but he was most certainly present on her second sweep. And she knew it from the moment she got within ten yards of the ramen shop, evidenced by the cheering and the obnoxiously loud sound of slurping.

' _He may be a hero,'_ Hanabi thought, as she ducked underneath the flap and into Ichiraku's. _'but he definitely needs to work on his manners.'_ That was one of the perks of being Uchiha Sasuke's student instead of Uzumaki Naruto's - they got to eat food other than ramen, and she didn't find herself questioning her sister's love for him. _'Nee-chan's going to have her hands full if he ever wisens up to her affections.'_

It seemed almost second nature to Naruto, but he practically noticed her presence near instantaneously. That was just how he was, always on the alert; for him, a day at Ichiraku's alone wasn't as fun as a day at Ichiraku's with friends, acquaintances, or even strangers. Ever the social creature, she was, and Hanabi both envied and wondered just how he could put up with that much interaction. She was no introvert, but to be surrounded by people all day, every day… well, that just wasn't what a Hyuga was raised to be like; you couldn't really blame her for that.

"Hanabi!" Naruto said, turning around on his stool, a bit of noodle dangling off of his bottom lip. "Grab a seat! I was actually looking for you… after all, I gotta interrogate you, and make sure Sasuke hasn't been mistreating you or anything."

"He hasn't, so don't be worried about that." Hanabi said quietly, sitting in the stool beside Naruto. "I had something to ask you though, erm… Naruto-san."

"Just Naruto is fine." he said, waving his hand in a nonchalant manner.

Hanabi swallowed. "Alright…" she said. "I had something to ask you… Naruto, and I- I hope I'm not being intrusive or anything, because it's pretty important that I get an answer."

He pursed his lips together. "Go ahead," Naruto said. "This is about Sasuke, right?"

"It is." Hanabi said. "Where does he live now? I know that he has his own apartment and all… but um… he never got around to telling me where he lived."

Naruto laughed. "Sasuke is a pretty private person, Hanabi." the blonde said, giving the ramen shop owner a nod as he placed a new bowl of miso ramen in front of him. "I'm not sure he'd want me just handing out his address like that… then again, since when have I cared about _his_ opinions?" Naruto grinned at her. "This is for something important, right?"

"Important enough that I don't want to put off asking him for a few hours." Hanabi said. "And besides… it's not like I'm going to be in and out of his house every day of the week. I just need to ask him something, that's all."

"That's fair." Naruto said. "Tell you what- I'll give you his address… but, you're going to have to give me something in return."

Hanabi frowned. "I'm sorry, Naruto-sa… Naruto, but I don't exactly have enough money to buy _you_ of all people ramen."

He laughed once more, and she was struck by just how _warm_ and vibrant the sound of his laughter was. "I didn't mean you _buying_ me something… I'm not trying to extort a little kid for goodness sake." Hanabi bit the inside of her cheek, but refrained from retorting. "I just want you to keep an eye on Sasuke for me, that's all; make sure that he isn't… hiding anything from me, Sakura-chan, and Kakashi-sensei that he shouldn't be. That's all I want you to do."

"That's it?" Hanabi asked.

"That's it."

Hanabi shrugged. "I can do that." Hanabi said. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy; now, the address - where does he live, Naruto?"

Naruto grinned at her. "Sasuke lives over on…" Naruto told her the address. "Just knock, and he should let you in; if he has any problems with you knowing his address, just tell him that I told you."

"Sounds good." Hanabi said; she stood up off of the stool, still coming up to about Naruto's shoulder even when he was sitting down. "Thank you, Naruto." she continued, bowing to him. "I promise I'll… keep an eye on Sasuke-sensei, just like you asked."

"Thanks." Naruto said. "Now you _did_ offer to pay for my ramen…" He grinned at her. "Why don't you do me a favor in exchange- oh, come on get back here!"

Hanabi had scurried out of the tent flap, before the word 'ramen' had escaped his lips. Naruto shook his head slightly, turning back to his ramen bowl. _'It was worth a shot.'_ Naruto thought, picking up his chopsticks.

She followed his directions to the letter. Hanabi had been born and bred in Konoha after all, and she knew the city like the back of her hand… though, quite a few roads and landmarks were substantially different after Pein had invaded and leveled the village near totally. Konoha had been built from the ground up, and some pictures of the previous city had been used to replicate it, but there was only so much one could do. Despite that, Hanabi still knew her way around - it only took her fifteen minutes to locate Sasuke's apartment complex.

One might think that the Hyuga were accustomed to rather liberal use of their Byakugan - but frankly, the opposite was more true. It was more of an honor to use in battle or in very specific circumstances such as tracking an enemy; Hanabi was sure that her ancestors would weep if she used the vaulted Byakugan for something as mundane as making sure her sensei was home.

So… she knocked, three times straight in the center of the door. Hanabi wished that she were taller, so that she could look through the glass window embedded in the door. Even if she stood on her tiptoes, she was still well over a foot off from being able to look through it. _'Why are these stupid windows built so high anyway?'_ Hanabi thought, her nose scrunching up in distaste. _'Who's supposed to look through them? Giants?'_

She waited, and she waited; about thirty seconds later, Hanabi knocked again, this time quicker and in more rapid succession. The third time she knocked, it was simply one big _thump_. "He should have answered by now…!" Hanabi said, her voice tinged with blatant impatience. "Come on, sensei!" she called. "Open the darn door!"

And still, Hanabi refrained from using her Byakugan. Even her, someone who was arguably the 'least Hyuga' of her clan was still tied, if subconsciously, to their rules and traditions - the most liberal form of which would still cover several books or a basket full of scrolls.

She huffed, kicking the door with her foot. Even when he _wasn't_ here, Hanabi thought, her teacher still managed to be irritating. It just had to be some kind of horrific gift granted by the kami for the express purpose of torturing her.

' _There has to be a spare key or… something around here!'_ She tried a few of the more 'obvious' locations: inside of the mailbox, beneath the mat in front of the door (which didn't have welcome on it), even under an oddly placed rock; still, she didn't have much luck.

Then… well, she'd always had a knack for noticing things that others might overlook.

Her white eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Hanabi leaned forward, so close that the tip of her nose brushed against the wood of the door. She grinned in that cheeky way of hers, before forming a simple seal. "Kai!" she said, and the genjutsu dispelled.

It was a very simple one, but that was the beauty of it; most civilians wouldn't have a dream of detecting it, and the vast majority of shinobi wouldn't notice it simply because of how obvious it _should_ be. If ninjas had one flaw, it was over complicating a situation, and making it more than it truly was.

Engraved in the door, below the window, was the number '8' - his apartment number presumably. Once the genjutsu had been dispelled, it revealed what hadn't been there before; a thin magnet slip attached just to the side of the number, with a spare key gently placed on it.

She managed to pry the key off of the magnetic slip. It fit straight into the lock, and with a simple twist and a _click_ , she eased the door open. It was silent inside of Sasuke's apartment - incredibly silent, enough to leave the hairs on the back of her neck on end.

"Sensei?" Hanabi murmured quietly. "You in here?"

Hanabi's gaze swept over the living room. _'Jeez.'_ she thought. _'He sure needs to hire an interior decorator or something like that.'_ Spartan seemed to be a poor way to describe what Sasuke's apartment looked like. It seemed… _robotic_ ; somewhat resembling a newly furnished house, with little to no personal effects. Not a single couch cushion was out of place, a single book on the shelf not rigid and orderly. The curtains were drawn, and the only light source was from a single bulb screwed into the lamp that hung overhead.

She jumped slightly as she heard footsteps. "Naruto-" Hanabi heard a deep male voice begin. "- I've told you about barging into my house like this. Next time you do it, I'm going to…" He paused, as he stepped out into the hall… wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Clearly, he had just gotten out of the shower - perhaps having turned off the water just as Hanabi had walked in the door.

Hanabi blanched.

Then, she shrieked. " _MY EYES!_ " she said, clawing at her face, taking an exaggerated tumble onto the floor. "My poor, virgin eyes!" She continued to writhe, her face having turned rather red. "Why, sensei?" Hanabi moaned weakly, her hair shrouding her eyes. "Why would you do this to me?"

Needless to say, Sasuke wasn't exactly accustomed to women shrieking in agony when he was half naked in front of them. The last time he recalled being this bare in front of a female was that time he, Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin had paid a visit to the hot springs… and Karin had nearly fainted from the blood loss, if he remembered correctly.

"You're a little weird, you realize that, right?" Sasuke said, still clutching the towel at his waist with his lone arm. Then again, she was eleven… he could cut her some slack.

Hanabi stopped with her exaggerated 'death' throes near immediately. "Alright, fine, it isn't _that_ bad." she said, sitting up. "But come on - put some clothes on, sensei… nobody wants to see that." He looked kind of like those shirtless models they'd have on crappy romance novels; except the stump of his missing arm kind of ruined the image.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's my house." he said. "I'll prance around here naked if I have the impulse to." He smirked at her.

Hanabi quickly covered her eyes, for she had _seen_ his fingers twitching at the hem of his towel. "Just… put on some clothes… _please_." she said. Her face was still red - bubbly and vibrant she may be, but she had still been raised as a conservative, and Sasuke recognized that. He had been raised as a conservative as well… but three years with Orochimaru had numbed any social barriers he may have had; nakedness was just a part of life in Otogakure, whether it was participating in one of the Snake sannin's vile experiments or bathing with other Sound ninja when they were out on missions and couldn't afford their own personal privacy.

He sighed… and, after a moment, relented. "I'll be back in a moment." Sasuke said, as he turned and disappeared back down the hallway. She heard the sound of his door closing. Hanabi eased herself back onto her feet, dusting off her kimono and running her fingers through her long brown hair.

True to his word, Sasuke walked back into the room only a scant minute or two later, having pulled on a black shirt and a pair of beige shorts that went down to his knees. His hair, while still damp from his shower, was unruly and as spiked up as it typically was.

"How did you find out my address?" Sasuke said. "Actually… how did you even get into my house?"

"Take a wild guess on the first one." Hanabi said, grinning mischievously.

Sasuke sighed. "Naruto." he said at once. "That idiot…" Another sigh, heavier this time. "... whatever, I suppose it doesn't matter all that much." He rubbed his chin. "I'm guessing you found the spare key, then; not that I hid it all that well."

Hanabi's grin only widened. "A Hyuga's eyes are keener than most." she said, tapping a finger just beneath her eye. " _Annyyways_." Hanabi continued. "I had something to ask you, Sasuke-sensei."

He frowned. "What is it?" he said, dropping into a chair.

"Umm… well…" She fiddled with the hem of her kimono, biting her lip. "I suppose I- well, I want to tell you that I _really_ liked learning how to water walk and stuff. Knowing how to do things like that is really cool." She swallowed, refraining from biting her lip again lest she accidently draw blood. "But I… I kind of want to focus on _Katon_ techniques, ya know? I want to… I want to _master_ _Katon_ techniques before we move on to anything else… I- I just feel like I should; it is my natural affinity, isn't it?"

"Hmm." Sasuke hummed.

"What?" Hanabi said, her tone a tad anxious. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"It will be difficult." Sasuke said after a moment. "Uchihas are given certain advantages compared to other clans when it comes to _Katon_ techniques - which is why my clan was so famous for their fire wielding." He sighed. "Without the sharingan… or my clan's natural affinity, it will be an incredibly difficult task, Hanabi." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. _"Incredibly difficult;_ I cannot stress that enough."

"So what?" Hanabi retorted. "Like I said, it's my natural affinity, sensei - I just feel like I _need_ to learn it, inside and out." She took a deep breath… and then, a cheeky grin spread across her lips. "And besides, with such an _amazing_ sensei like you teaching me, how hard could it be? The Uchiha Sasuke's student learning _Katon_ should be a breeze!"

"You… are very transparent in trying to suck up to me." Sasuke said, his eyebrow twitching. Hanabi merely continued to grin at him. He rolled his eyes, and yet another sigh escaped his lips. "But fine… I suppose we can focus our efforts on _Katon_ techniques for now. Now… give me a moment to think."

She was silent, practically bouncing on her soles as seconds slowly ticked by. Sasuke's face was blank, but she didn't really expect anything different - he was a master at masking his emotions, concealing what exactly he was thinking… to the point where Hanabi felt as if she would need an improved version of the Byakugan to even _begin_ to crack the shell that was Uchiha Sasuke.

Hanabi liked to think that was part of his mystery. Someone like Naruto… well, to put it simply, he was an open book: a tortured childhood spent wallowing in loneliness. Now that he was older, mature, and had an innumerable amount of friends, he wanted to share that friendship with anyone and everyone - no matter how much they said they didn't want it, no matter the strain it put on Naruto himself.

Sasuke was different; he was icy and cold, stoic at best and a faceless rock at worst. He didn't wear anything on his sleeve, least of all his heart. All of that just made him so… _interesting_ , though. He was just such a character, someone that Hanabi felt as if she could know for years and still not even crack the surface of. That excited and intrigued her… in a way she wasn't sure she'd ever felt about someone before. It was strange… odd… frustrating at times, and yet there was just a feeling in her gut that _told_ her that becoming Sasuke's protege had been the right thing to do.

She went still as Sasuke exhaled, a sort of… cautious… and strangely volatile look appeared on his face. "You don't have anything to do for the next little while… do you?" Sasuke asked, his voice curiously quiet.

"No…?" Hanabi said.

"Good." Sasuke said. "We're going to be going out quite a ways." He made for the door, slipping into a pair of sandals by it. When she didn't move, he turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "What are you waiting for? You're the one who wanted me to train you… so unless you want that very _kind_ and _generous_ offer to be revoked, you'd better go ahead and get up."

Hanabi stared at him for a moment. And then, a shocked look appeared on her face. "Oh- yeah, right, right…!" she said, standing up in a flash. "Let's go then, sensei!"

Sasuke just shook his head slightly. "Let's get going, then."

She scurried behind him as he stepped out of the door.

"Spare key." Sasuke said, holding his hand out. She'd still been grasping it, and she placed it promptly into his open palm. He relocked the door with it, then he stuck it back to the magnetic slip and recast the genjutsu.

Soon after, they were making their way through the streets of Konoha. Ordinarily, Hanabi would have to borderline fight and elbow her way through to get anywhere - but not with Sasuke. The crowd seemed to part like the Red Sea before them, whether from fear, respect, or just sheer coincidence, Hanabi really wasn't sure.

Maybe at first she would have been intimidated by the idea of walking along behind Sasuke… but now, she just wasn't; she was braver than that, Hanabi reasoned. She was a Hyuga… she didn't kneel to peer pressure, rather, she walked steadfastly, her head up and a proud and only _slightly_ haughty look on her face. While she might have been a little more popular if she had been Naruto's student, not just _anyone_ could be Uchiha Sasuke's student; for Naruto, Hanabi thought with a smirk, all you had to do was offer him a bowl of ramen and he'd probably sign his soul to you. Not that was a bad thing necessarily. But being Sasuke's student was a point of pride for her; she doubted that he would _ever_ take another protege, and to be the only student of a legend was a kind of honor she could hardly comprehend.

She trailed behind Sasuke as he continued to walk, setting a brisk pace that required her to walk twice as fast in order to even fathom keeping up with him. Sasuke didn't stop for an instant; he walked past everyone in the streets as if they weren't even worth looking at. His gaze was focused directly ahead, and it was clear that he wasn't going to slow down until they were at their destination… which, now that she thought about it, she didn't even know where they were going.

"Where are we going, sensei?" Hanabi called to him.

"You'll see." Sasuke replied, his voice neutral.

She frowned. Had that been a slight hesitation in his voice? Or even a… a tremble? No… no, she must have been imagining things. Sasuke's voice trembling… hah, something like that would only happen once in a blue moon.

Her thoughts understandably drifted as they continued to walk; Sasuke hadn't been lying after all, they _were_ going quite a ways. Her mind went to things that were bugging her about Sasuke.

It was a weird concept to her that Sasuke was 'only' eighteen years old. He wasn't even a decade older than her… and yet… and yet, he seemed to have _centuries_ of experience on her. It was uncanny, really.

The things that he would have to go through to acquire that experience though… the things that he had seen, that he had done, that had been done to him; Hanabi could scarcely imagine what sort of horrors her teacher had experienced.

' _The last survivor of the Uchiha clan…'_ she mused. _'I remember reading about it… and his brother; Uchiha Itachi.'_ Even the name caused a shiver to race down her spine. _'Then again, he met his maker in the end.'_ If there was one thing Hanabi enjoyed, it was a bit of irony - and for Itachi to be felled by the only person he had spared from death was a delicious amount of irony that she so thoroughly enjoyed.

Still… to have to watch your family die so young...

Hanabi tried to imagine it.

She tried to envision a world where somehow, innocent little stuttering Hinata summoned the anger and cultivated the power to strike down every single last Hyuga. Her white eyes so normally full of love, instead infected with rage; blood staining the halls where they took their first steps, their father dead, their guardians dead, _everyone_ … gone. Except her; Hinata would spare Hanabi in this world, she would leave her little sister in a pool of their father's blood, leave her with one message…

… that if she wanted to avenge their family, she would have to sacrifice _everything_ to get the power to kill her.

A shudder ran down her spine.

It was no secret what Sasuke's ambitions had been: first to kill Itachi, then afterwards Konoha at large. Even now, when he had been pardoned, and had the full backing of both the Hokage and _Uzumaki Naruto_ , there was still a degree of mistrust that lingered.

Hanabi gulped, trying to clear her mind, wiping her clammy palms off on her kimono. She still wasn't fully sure that Sasuke couldn't read her mind, and she didn't want to risk him somehow detecting exactly what she was thinking about. She didn't want him thinking that she… pitied him or something like that… even if she did, just a little bit. What sane person wouldn't?

"We're here." Sasuke said, jolting her from her thoughts.

Hanabi blinked, staring at the faded and cracked Uchiha crest in front of them. "This is…"

"... the Uchiha compound." Sasuke completed for her. There was an eerily blank look on his face, and she couldn't help but notice the stiffness of his limbs. "There's a few things we're going to need to collect from here… I haven't touched them in years, not since I was learning _Katon_ myself."

"Who taught you _Katon_?" Hanabi asked, nervously. Sasuke began to walk, and once again she had to scurry to keep up with him.

"I taught myself… mostly." Sasuke said.

He was silent after that, giving Hanabi an opportunity to give the compound a proper once over. It wasn't pretty; though the old compound had been far enough from the center of Pein's assault to have avoided being totally flattened, it had still been damaged - that, combined with disrepair and exposure to the elements had left many of the buildings looking run down and worn. Termite ridden wood, creaky doors, windows that battered open and closed based on the whims of the wind… it was a dark and desolate place.

She took a deep breath, her white eyes unblinking. This was the place where it had happened - for all she knew, she was walking in the place where Sasuke's uncle had died… where his grandmother had died… where his murderous, traitorous brother had done his horrific work.

' _He better have a good reason for bringing me here…'_ Hanabi thought. _'This entire place gives me the heebie jeebies.'_

Road after road, street after street, all the while spent in complete and total silence. She sensed that Sasuke didn't exactly want to talk freely in the place where his family had been slaughtered - and rather wisely, Hanabi chose to keep her mouth shut for once in her life. It was the least she could do for her sensei, she thought.

Finally… they reached a rather small building, nestled in a corner of the compound. This place in particular looked marginally less run down than the other buildings… as if Sasuke had put it to use even after his clan's death. The door was creaky and obviously needed a good bit of oil, the floors were dusty and the wood felt relatively unstable, but the building at large didn't seem as if it were going to collapse beneath a good gust of wind, like the rest of the compound did.

Then, she saw it… books. Laid from spine to spine on great shelves, they filled the entire building, from corner to corner, from top to bottom. It was a librarian's fantasy - and Hanabi couldn't help but gape. She knew many a scholar in the Hyuga compound that would _kill_ to be standing where she was right now.

"My ancestors were not keen on sharing their knowledge." Sasuke said, walking along a wall, his finger skimming along a row of books. A light chuckle escaped his lips, though there was no amusement in it. "I wouldn't call them hoarders… but these books come from long before Konoha was founded… pillaged from clans that the Uchiha defeated in battle. Everything is in here, from dissertations on the geographical differences between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, to… well, how to master _Katon_ techniques. Which is why I brought you here, as you might have guessed."

Hanabi rubbed her hands together. "So…" she began. "Where do we start, sensei? There's so many books - and who knows how many of them could be about _Katon_ jutsu…"

"I know this place like the back of my hand." Sasuke said simply. He didn't say anything else - rather striding around the room, occasionally reaching into a row of books and selecting one. Once his arms were laden with about a dozen books, he set them down on a table. "Here," Sasuke said, taking a book from the middle of the pile and handing it to her.

She took it, reading the cover with a quick glance. _'Katon Jutsu and How to Start Learning'_

"Some of the text might be a little faded." Sasuke murmured. "But that's a good place to get started, and you should be able to make out most of it regardless."

Hanabi cracked it open, blowing dust off of the pages. Her white eyes swept across the paper… and slowly… surely… a frown formed on her face. She flipped a few pages, and her initial impression was swiftly confirmed.

"This is all just words, sensei." Hanabi said, her frown deepening. "There's no pictures or… I dunno… _jutsu_ in this thing?"

"There are a few." Sasuke said. "But the vast majority of that book is theory - if you want to learn how to use _Katon_ techniques at maximum efficiency, you'll have to know the theory behind them, plain and simple."

"B-but… I don't wanna read these stupid books!" Hanabi whined. "Can't you just teach me these jutsu yourself?"

Sasuke didn't even blink. "No." he said, his voice extraordinarily firm. "Learning how to proper wield _Katon_ isn't just going through a few seals and spitting out fire; there's much more to it then that. You can get away with no education when it comes to something simple like the fireball… but with anything more complex, you're going to need at least the first three chapters of that book read and memorized. Do you understand me?"

Hanabi wilted before his firm gaze.

"Fine…" she muttered, drooping her head. "The first three chapters? That shouldn't take long." She opened the book once more, and flipped to the first chapter's first page. Then, she continued to sift through the book, until she reached the end of the first chapter… which was nearly forty pages in - which might not seem like much, until you considered the fact that the text was miniscule, and was cramped from the very top of the page to the very bottom. " _You expect me to read this much?!"_ Hanabi screeched.

Sasuke… smirked. "You knew what you were getting into." he said, hefting up the other books that he had picked up. "I'll take these back to my apartment, so we don't have to come all the out here next time, whenever you need the next book." He made for the door. "Come on." he said.

Still carrying the book he had assigned her, Hanabi trailed after him.

They walked out of the Uchiha compound, and emerged back into the city streets. It was a quiet journey - Hanabi weighed down by the ridiculously heavy book while Sasuke managed to heft so many of them with ease.

Soon, they were back in front of his apartment.

"Remember," Sasuke said. "The first three chapters; until those are read, there's nothing else we'll be able to do."

"Got it." Hanabi said, still frowning a little, though a small part of her realized that he was probably (definitely) right.

He shook his head slightly. "I'll see you later." he said softly.

She turned, and made to leave.

"Oh… and Hanabi?" Hanabi turned around.

"Yeah?" Hanabi said.

"Don't barge into my apartment like that again." Sasuke said, and he was smirking at her. "Next time, I might be wearing _less_ than a towel." Teasing an eleven year old might seem odd to some, but honestly, there was very little entertainment in his life, and he'd reap whatever amusement he could.

Her face turned stark red, reminiscent of her sister. "You weirdo!" Hanabi whined, though she was grinning at the same time.

Sasuke chuckled. "See you." he said, before making his way up the stairs to his apartment. She stared at his back… smiling, though her face was still red.

Hanabi gazed down at the book in her hands. _'Reading this is going to suck.'_ she thought. _'But, I've got to do it if I want to learn how to use Katon jutsu.'_ Her smile grew. _'And besides… I can pay him back by blowing him up with a fireball.'_

And with that cheerfully and only mildly murderous thought, Hanabi walked off back to the Hyuga compound.

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 **So, this chapter is actually one fairly long scene. No breaks, no POV shifts, nothing - the word count just kind of got away from me, lol. I still think it came out pretty good... why don't you tell me what you thought through reviews? ;). Thanks for reading, and as always, have an AWESOME day.  
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	6. Chapter 6

**Another year, another chapter... wait... still a week to go. Whoops.**

 **Still-another chapter of sweet sweet Tanabata has come down the pipeline. It's a fair bit shorter than the previous few, but I hope it's still an enjoyable read regardless. Read it, love it, and do not forget to review it! I cannot stress enough how important rules are to an aspiring writer like me. Do it! :D**

* * *

She was going to kill Sasuke-sensei.

Hanabi really, _really_ was. Surely, this book that he had given her amounted to cruel and unusual punishment under some obscure law in Konoha. It just had to, considering just… how… utterly… _boring_ it was.

An excerpt from the book is probably necessary to convey just how mind numbingly _dull_ the contents were.

 _Utilizing Katon jutsu can be a difficult task. Most of these techniques are completed using the 'Tiger' seal. This signature hand seal can be used to see when an enemy combatant is going to use a Katon jutsu against you. It can also be used as a signal to your allies-you could form a 'Tiger' seal, and show your comrades-in-arms that you are about to use a Katon jutsu…_

It might sound relatively interesting to some people-but it went on, and on, and on, _and on_. Hanabi was on page thirty now, and the book was still discussing the applications of Katon jutsu instead of actually teaching it to her.

More than once, she had contemplated incinerating the book altogether and telling Sasuke that she had lost it. Actually, the only reason she hadn't gone through with that was because she knew that Sasuke would know exactly what she had done. He was just too perceptive for her to get one over on.

She rolled over on her bed, groaning and kicking her feet. Hanabi reached up, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear; she yawned in an exaggerated manner, splaying her legs and arms out this way and that, the springs of her bed gently creaking beneath her tiny frame.

Though she was half asleep by this time, Hanabi was anything but determined. She managed to hammer her way through the last ten pages of the first chapter in record time, and when those blissful words- _Chapter Two, Theory cont._ -appeared before her eyes, she actually let out a sigh of relief.

She closed the thick book with a _thunk_ that reberbated through her room; then she tossed it upon her nightstand, where it would stay until she plucked up the courage to dive back into its depths. Which hopefully would be a long while in the future-though she knew that it would likely be later that day. Especially since she really wanted to go ahead and begin learning the endless Katon techniques that she was sure Sasuke could teach her.

Hanabi flopped off of her bed; she had lain down for quite a while to read the book, and her legs felt all stiff. She could feel the bones in her legs creaking and cracking as they got put back in working order, Hanabi grabbing the side of the bed for leverage and giving her feet a good shake to get the blood flowing again.

Once she could walk properly without any danger of falling over, Hanabi waltzed out of her room. She was tired… and hungry. Her belly fought her brain for which issue was more prevalent-and eventually, her stomach won out. A trip down to the kitchens would do her some good, Hanabi thought.

The Hyuga was a wealthy clan-but that didn't mean they had to hire butlers or maids from outside the clan. Back in the day, long before her or her father were born, the branch family had effectively been slaves… forced to cater to the head family's every need without compensation in any way. Nowadays, they were paid and they were paid well-though they didn't have a choice as to whether they would work or not. It was either the kitchens or the battlefield for the branch family, a concept that left Hanabi's chest gnawed with guilt, even as the cooks in the kitchen beamed at her and promised to whip up some food for her to eat.

Hanabi ate, and she ate quickly. The food was wholesome and filling, and positively _delicious_ -the head family of the Hyuga would demand no less from their 'inferiors' after all. She smiled and gave thanks to the cooks, and then ducked out of the kitchen. A cloud of steam followed her out of the door.

She was torn before going back to read the second chapter of that stupid book, or going out and actually having _fun_.

Hanabi scratched her head.

…

…

...

She chose fun, as one might expect.

Hanabi knew that Sasuke might be a… smidge disappointed with her. But so what? He was grumpy whether he was happy with her or not; what was him being a tiny little bit more grumpy going to do?

She spent about five minutes getting ready-darting back up to her room and pulling on some proper clothes. Hanabi forgoed her typical garb, kimonos and what not, and settled on something a little more casual. A pair of shorts, a foam colored t-shirt, and a simple pair of sandals. Hanabi pulled her long, flowing brown hair into a ponytail-her nimble fingers working to get rid of all those loose strands that would make a fashion designer scream in agony.

Once she was done, Hanabi felt as if she were ready to go out and see the village. Where would she go? Well, she hadn't decided on that yet-but anywhere had to be better than being cooped up in the house, reading some book that was thicker than the longest novel someone could envision.

She practically hopped and skipped out of the Hyuga compound, humming a little tune under her breath as she went. The day was as bright as a day could get-the sun shone high in the sky, and not a single cloud served to dampen its rays. The atmosphere in the village was positively bubbly, a feeling that had persisted ever since the war's end. There was a sense of optimism in the air-their greatest enemies had been vanquished, and a new era of peace had fallen upon the land. Who _wouldn't_ be optimistic?

The feeling was infectious, and Hanabi couldn't help but grin as she walked through the streets of Konoha. Her distinctive white eyes gave her a certain amount of respect, especially among the elderly, and nearly everyone smiled back at her as she moved.

She was still stuck on what she wanted to do. There was a new cafe that was supposed to open downtown… and she'd heard that they made excellent cinnamon buns-which were coincidentally her sister's favorite food. Hanabi figured that she could probably sucker Hinata into owing her one if she went to the cafe and picked up two cinnamon buns; one for her to eat there and then, because she was still kind of hungry, and the other to wrap up and give to Hinata the next time Hanabi saw her.

Actually, she had made her mind up-that _was_ what she was going to do.

Until, as always, fate decided to jam a stick into the gears.

"Shouldn't you be reading that book I gave you?"

Hanabi jumped about a meter into the air. She felt as if she were doing that far too often as of late. "Sa- Sasuke-sensei!" Hanabi said, and she whirled around to face him. "What are you- wait… were you following me?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Why would I be following you, exactly?" Sasuke said.

She blinked those big white eyes of hers at him. Then, she shrugged. "I don't know." Hanabi said. "You're weird?"

"If I'm weird, then what are you?" Sasuke said.

"Uh, totally awesome, and totally _not_ weird?" Hanabi said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you trying to imply, sensei?"

He shook his head. "We're getting off topic. Why aren't you studying, Hanabi? I thought that you wanted to become a master at Katon."

"I mean, I do. But that stuff is so boring, sensei!" Hanabi insisted. "How am I supposed to be a master if I die of boredom before I even get close?"

"You complain too much." Sasuke noted.

"You complain too much!" she retorted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"... I don't think I've complained about a single thing to you." Sasuke said. "Yet, whenever I'm training you, it's all I hear-at this rate, I'm going to have to get ear plugs for our practice sessions if I want to keep what I have left of my sanity."

"Maybe you should." Hanabi huffed.

Again, Sasuke shook his head. "I am going to guess that you were going somewhere."

"I was." Hanabi said.

"Mmm… alright. I suppose I'll come with you." Sasuke said.

Hanabi balked. "Why would you come with me?" she said.

"Because, I'm going to teach you how to reduce the number of seals needed for the fireball jutsu on the way there." Sasuke informed her. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do. He was still getting used to this 'teaching' thing… and, well… Hanabi wasn't _terrible_ company to be around.

"Oh." Hanabi blinked. "Yeah… that sounds nice. How do you do it then?"

"Walk and talk." Sasuke said. "You're the one who knows where you were going."

"Right, right." Hanabi said, and she started walking. Sasuke kept pace with her easily; he only had to take a third as many strides in order to stay side by side with her. "Okay… so how do you make it so you use less hand seals?"

"It's not that difficult." Sasuke said. "It requires an aptitude for chakra control-which, considering your Hyuga genes, should be right in your league, even considering your age. The premise behind it is rather simple: you need to reduce the amount of chakra that you use for the jutsu, and you need to be able to harness more chakra when it comes to a single hand seal."

"Well… the one you taught me used six seals, right?" Hanabi said. "Is that like, the most basic way to do it or something?"

"Precisely." Sasuke said. "The less hand seals you use, the tougher it is to cast. But, as you might expect, it is also faster to use as well. It's a trade off-but as you get more skilled, being able to use the more complicated version will be as natural as breathing. For that reason, it's worth learning how to do it, because there is no drawback to using less hand seals once you reach a certain skill level."

"How many hand seals can you do it with?" Hanabi asked.

"None." Sasuke said.

She gaped at him. "None?" Hanabi said. "But that's…" She paused for a moment, to consider who she was talking to. "I guess that makes sense."

Sasuke smirked. "I'm shocked you were expecting any less from me." he said slyly. "But to be honest with you, the no hand seal version is a good deal weaker than if I use a hand seal. For… obvious reasons-" He gestured to his missing arm. "I can do one handed seals that are just as good as the ones you can do with two arms. So…" He formed an imitation of the tiger seal with his one arm-nothing came out of his lips, he wasn't about to blow up a city block, but the demonstration was clear.

"That's all you need?" Hanabi said.

"That's all you need." Sasuke replied. "I'd recommend working your way back slowly-start by mitigating the number of seals from six to five. Once you've got that down… try to lower it from five to four. And so on."

They were in front of the new cafe that Hanabi had heard about now. It stuck out like a sore thumb against the mostly wooden buildings surrounding it-sleek and modern, with polished marble floors and shiny counters. The windows gleamed in the sun, and more than a few patrons were seen enjoying their beverages and food inside the shop.

"Is this the place?" Sasuke said, as Hanabi came to a stop and looked at it.

"Yup." Hanabi said. She patted her pockets, before withdrawing a few wrinkled bills. "You coming in with me?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why not." Sasuke said.

The door chimed as they stepped in. Most people didn't even bother to look up; those that did glanced up quickly… before tipping their gazes back down. Then they glanced back up in a hurry, their skin turning pale and their mouths agape.

Hanabi was practically ignored before the towering figure of Sasuke, who gazed upon the patrons of the shop as if they were as insignificant as the chairs they sat in. Hanabi sighed and shook her head, before stepping up to the counter.

"Hi," she said, to the petrified waitress. "Can I have two cinnamon buns?"

"And a coffee." Sasuke said. "Black."

The waitress seemed to shake beneath his gaze-and only let out a sigh of relief as he looked away. Slowly, gradually, the cafe returned to its previous state… with a subtle undertone of anxiety. It was plainly obvious that people kept glancing at Sasuke as the waitress hurriedly poured his cup of coffee (her hand vibrating so badly that she slopped a quarter of the pot over the counter).

"Here- here you go, sir." the waitress said, pushing the coffee mug at him. Sasuke calmly slid a bill onto the counter, before picking up the cup. The waitress seemed almost afraid to grab the note-as if it were laced with some kind of arsenic.

Sasuke took a sip of the coffee.

The waitress held her breath. Hanabi tapped her foot on the ground, glancing impatiently at Sasuke as if it was _his_ fault for the cinnamon buns taking so long to come out.

"Not bad." Sasuke said.

The waitress let out a sigh of relief, as did about three nearby patrons.

"What are they so worried about?" Hanabi muttered to Sasuke, as they slid into an empty booth in order to wait for the cinnamon buns. "It's not like you're going to fly into a murderous rage over a cup of coffee."

Sasuke gave a noncommittal grunt, before taking yet another sip of his coffee. "I'm surprised someone like you is going to eat two cinnamon buns." he said.

"Someone like me?" Hanabi said.

"You don't look like a heavy eater." Sasuke replied.

"Ah… I see." Hanabi murmured. "Well, I _am_ going to eat one-but the other is for my sister."

Sasuke frowned slightly, yet she didn't seem to notice.

Hanabi glanced out of the window. Her foot tapped on the floor, and she twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger. She seemed unperturbed. It was silent for a moment, aside from the sound of Sasuke drinking his coffee.

"They're still staring." she muttered to him, lips hardly moving. "What, do they think we're dating or something?"

He raised an eyebrow. She made him do that more and more often nowadays. "... no, I don't think that's where they're concerned about." Sasuke said. "It's how they act around me-Uchiha stigma and what not. It comes with the package, considering Madara, Obito, Itachi… me." He took a sip of coffee.

"I don't get how they can lump you in with those three." Hanabi said. "I mean-Madara and Obito killed so many people… and Itachi killed… well… you know." She shifted awkwardly, and a strange look appeared on Sasuke's face-one that she noticed, but didn't comment on. "But you? Who did you kill? Shimura Danzo? That old fart had it coming-otou-sama hated him, I think he actually smiled when he got the news that Danzo was dead."

"A Hyuga smiling… for some reason, I think that you might be lying." Sasuke said, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

Hanabi rolled her eyes. "I smile all the time!" she said. "So there goes your point right there!"

"You hardly count as a Hyuga." Sasuke said dismissively. "So my point still stands."

She scoffed. "I have the white eyes! The Byakugan! The cool looking kimonos!" Hanabi insisted.

"And yet, you're being trained beneath an Uchiha." Sasuke noted.

"Uh…" Her mouth flapped like a fish out of water. She wilted, her head drooping. "Okay, you got me there." Hanabi admitted. Sasuke smirked-and rewarded himself by taking the last sip of coffee from his mug.

The waitress came up to the table, still shaking like a leaf. "Here y-you go, ma'am." she said, gently placing the bag of cinnamon buns down in front of Hanabi. "C-can I top off your c-coffee, sir?"

Even when she was scared out of her wits, it was unthinkable to a citizen of Konoha to not be curtososy. Even to someone who was largely seen as a public enemy. Sasuke wasn't sure what he thought about that.

"I'm good." he said stiffly. "We were just leaving anyway."

Hanabi looked up-her cheeks bulging, considering she had taken a great bite out of one of the cinnamon buns. "We are?" she said, though it sounded more like incoherent mumbling considering the food in her mouth.

"We were." Sasuke said, and he stood up. Hanabi cast a forlonged look at her cinnamon bun-she wasn't quite as addicted to these things as her sister was, but they were still delicious. In the end, she resolved that she could eat it as they walked, and stood up as well.

They walked past the patrons-who not so subtly let out a sigh of relief as they passed. The door let out a chime as Sasuke pulled it open, and they stepped back out into the street. Hanabi was still steadily munching away at her cinnamon bun.

"Listen," Sasuke began, and Hanabi turned her head to him attentively-though she was still eating. "How many chapters did you get through in that book I gave you?"

"One." she said, but again, he couldn't make her words out through the food. When she realized this, Hanabi instead held up a single finger.

"Good... once you're done with the second chapter, contact me. I have a Katon jutsu for you to learn; it's a useful one that I think will serve you well, especially if you have an aptitude for it."

Hanabi swallowed the cinnamon bun in her mouth. "You got it, Sasuke-sensei." she said.

He nodded. And they went their separate ways after that, Hanabi still steadily nibbling at her cinnamon bun-she wanted to make sure she ate it before it got cold. Actually, now that she thought about it… it was probably a good idea to hurry up and get the extra bun to her sister. If there was one thing Hinata hated-which was a very small list of things indeed-it was a cold cinnamon bun. She'd still eat it of course, but she would fuss out Hanabi at the same time-or at least as much as someone like Hinata could berate someone.

She walked quickly, and it was only a scant ten minutes later when she arrived at the gates of the Hyuga compound. Hanabi had long since finished her own cinnamon bun, and the other was wrapped carefully in the bag they had came in.

The guards nodded at her, and she nodded back. She knew the compound like the back of her hand, and it was no trouble for Hanabi to navigate her way to the Hinata's room. Of course, she knocked on the door-she had _some_ tact at least.

"Come in." a voice said.

Hanabi opened the door. Hinata was tucked beneath the covers, a tissue in her hand and her cheeks rather pink. Her hair was greasy and disheveled, and a mound of tissues was stacked up on the side of her bedside table.

"Hi, Hana…" Hinata breathed.

Hanabi grinned. "Guess what I got for you, sis?" she said, pulling the cinnamon bun out of the bag. "It's your favorite…!"

Hinata whined. "I can't eat that, imouto." she said, sniffling and dabbing her nose the with the tissue in her hand. "I need soup… and vegetables. Healthy things." She sneezed-and it was the most adorable sound ever, to the point where Hanabi had to stop herself from squealing.

"But they'll make you feel better!" Hanabi said. "Trust me!"

Hinata eyed the cinnamon bun hungrily. "Maybe… maybe a little bit at a time." Hinata wheezed. "Bring it over here, Hana." She beckoned, her thin fingers wiggling as if she could she telekinesis to yank the delicacy out of her sister's hand and send it flying into her own.

Hanabi giggled. She pulled up a chair to Hinata's bedside, ripped off a chunk of the cinnamon bun, and pressed it into her sister's hand. Hinata ate it hungrily, literally moaning as she bit into the still lightly steaming bakery good.

"Oh…" Hinata groaned. "It's like heaven." She finished that entire chunk within a second. "It's so good, Hana… I need more…"

"You said it yourself, sis. You'll have to eat a little bit at a time." Hanabi said, grinning.

Hinata whimpered. "So… cruel." she said.

"Oh hush, you." Hanabi said. She leaned forward and pressed a palm to Hinata's forehead. "Jeez, you're still burning up like nobody's business." she murmured. "Did the medicine help any?"

"A little." Hinata said. "I just want the- _achoo!_ " Again, it was the cutest sound in the world when she sneezed. Hinata sniffled. "I just want the cold to go away. I bet… I bet a cinnamon bun would help with that, imouto.."

"Give it fifteen minutes." Hanabi insisted. "I don't want you throwing up on me." She sighed, playing with a strand of Hinata's indigo hair. "Just close your eyes and get some rest, sis. I'll nudge you when you can have the next bite."

Hinata nodded. She rolled over slightly, and closed her eyes. She didn't quite fall asleep-but she was still enough that she might as well have been asleep.

Hanabi pursed her lips together.

That look that had appeared on Sasuke's face when she had talked about his brother… it- it still bugged her, if she were to be completely honest.

His brother.

The man who had killed everyone in her sensei's life, and had driven them down the path that had lead to that show of fear that the patrons displayed in the cafe.

Hanabi's hands twitched slightly.

He had looked guilty-and Hanabi knew there was no _logical_ reason that Sasuke should feel guilty for killing someone as heinous as Uchiha Itachi. Then again, logic never seemed to dictate what a person did and didn't feel.

Itachi was his brother. And there was no sane person in the Elemental Nations who could kill a sibling and not be depressed about it.

Hinata… was everything that Itachi wasn't, Hanabi thought. Sweet, kind, pacifistic… gentle in a way that a shinobi shouldn't be. Yet, Hanabi knew exactly what she would want to do if Hinata had done those same things that Itachi had done.

…

…

"... I guess you just can't help but love your family…" Hanabi whispered. _'Regardless of what they've done.'_

Hinata shifted slightly. "You say something, Hana?" she muttered, sniffling. "Can I have the next piece yet?"

Hanabi let out a dry laugh. "No, nee-chan," she said. "You can't-go back to sleep."

"I wasn't sleeping…" Hinata huffed.

Hanabi rolled her eyes, but did not say anything more.

Soon, Hinata's breath evened out-and she actually did fall asleep this time. Hanabi rubbed her cheek, a thoughtful look in those great, big white eyes of hers.

' _I should go ahead and start reading the second chapter of that book.'_ Hanabi thought.

She left the remnant of the now cold cinnamon bun on the bedside table. Hanabi stretched across the bed, and planted on a kiss on the crown of her sister's forehead; Hanabi frowned when she felt the still persistent fever that was afflicting Hinata. "You'd better get better soon, sis." Hanabi mumbled.

Hanabi let out one last sigh, before she left the room. The door closed gently behind her.

* * *

It was dark.

It was always dark.

He sat on the foot of his bed, his head bowed, his hair shadowing his mismatched eyes.

Sasuke vigorously rubbed the skin beneath his eyes.

' _I'm sorry…'_ he thought. _'I should have known better..'_

A clap of thunder rang outside the window. Soon, the sound of rain pounding the roof and window began to fill the room-drowning out any other noises that Sasuke may have made.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

**Yet another chapter of Tanabata. I know that I should finally get around to updating Ichi Henko, but oh well. Hope you guys enjoy, and don't forget to leave a review telling me what you think-yada yada yada. Enjoy!**

* * *

A week passed without much incident.

What more was there to it? It was a time of peace and prosperity, and there were no crises to be had-at least, for now. So, Hanabi settled into a routine, and she got used to it rather quickly.

She elected to go ahead and read the book that Sasuke had given her, and she actually managed to complete the second chapter in two days flat. When she did seek him out-as he had instructed her to do-she was met with a rather strange turn of events.

"I finished the second chapter, Sasuke-sensei." Hanabi said, her hair fluttering in the wind. The sound of the crowd around them nearly drowned out her voice; perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to try and talk to him when he had been in the middle of such a populated street.

"I see." Sasuke said, and Hanabi frowned at that oddly blank tone that carried with his words. "Well, go ahead and read the third chapter then; after that, get back to me and I'll teach you a jutsu."

She blinked. "Bu-"

"Third chapter." Sasuke said, and he turned and walked away-before she could blink again, he was gone, and she was left to despair at the realization that yet another set of nights to spend reading ahead of her.

The next chapter took three days this time.

"I finished the third chapter, Sasuke-sensei!" This time she was at the door of his apartment, though she still stood outside.

"I see." Sasuke said. "Finish the fourth chapter; after that, get back to me and I'll teach you a jutsu."

"That's what you said last time!" Hanabi protested.

"I know," Sasuke said, and he closed the door before she could say anything else.

She let out a huff of irritation. "Stupid sensei!" She cursed and kicked the door-which she instantly regretted, because trying to kick a wooden door in sandals was a _bad_ idea. She was left to hop away, her big toe red, possibly swollen, and another few days of reading ahead of her.

The fourth chapter she finished in two days.

This time, she actually went ahead and barged into his apartment-thankfully for her, he wasn't half naked this time. Actually, he didn't even look surprised at her intrusion. Instead, he merely glanced at her from over a cup of tea and beckoned her to sit down in the chair opposite him.

"Did you finish the fourth chapter?" Sasuke asked, once she had sat down.

Hanabi nodded fervently. "I got it done, and I swear to the kami and all of their mothers that if you say 'come back when you're done with the fifth chapter', I will fight you right here and now!" A pause. "Even if I know that I would lose that fight!"

The corners of his lips quirked up. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that." Sasuke said, and he took a calm sip of his tea. "That little trick has played its role, and I think it worked rather well."

"Trick?" Hanabi said.

"I think that you would call it the 'bait and pull'," Sasuke said. "I offer you a jutsu in exchange for finishing a chapter; then, when you do finish the chapter, I tell you that you have to finish the one after that while still dangling the prospect of learning a jutsu in front of your nose."

"He- hey!" she exclaimed. "That's totally not fair, that's abusing your powers as my sensei!" Hanabi huffed, and she fumed; Sasuke was mildly surprised that her face didn't turn as red as a tomato, as it normally would. Instead, a grin spread across her face. "Hah, but the joke's on you, Sasuke-sensei! Now that I know about your little trick, there's no way it's going to work on me!"

He shook his head.

"Why would I tell you what my 'trick' was if I had any intention of using it on you again?" Sasuke said, and suddenly Hanabi felt like an idiot-because really, why _would_ someone as smart as Uchiha Sasuke do something like that? "Give me a few moments, and I'll take you out and teach you a new jutsu."

She was struck still for the briefest moment.

A moment later, however, the brightest smile he had ever seen spread across her face; Sasuke felt as if he were looking straight at the sun for an instant. "Awesome!" Hanabi chirped. "Come on, hurry up then, sensei! We don't have all day, y'know!"

Sasuke surpassed all expectations, and actually… _smiled_. It was faint, so faint that Hanabi hardly noticed it, but it was there-and if possible, her own grin grew even wider to compensate.

He took one long sip to down the last of his tea, before he set the cup back down on the table with a soft clink. Sasuke stood, and Hanabi suddenly realized that he was dressed casually, _extraordinarily_ casually; it was so weird to see him clad in a tank top and a pair of sweatpants, yet at the same time it felt so _right_. Hanabi couldn't help but grin nervously.

Sasuke walked out of the kitchen without another word, and she heard the door to his room open. The sound of rustling cloth, a clink or two of metal, and then he stepped back out-the illusion was broken, and he was back to regular old Sasuke sensei. He finished fastening his cloak around his neck as he stepped back into the kitchen.

"Let's go." Sasuke said, and with a swish of his cloak, he made for the door. Hanabi scurried out of her chair, she followed close behind him slipping beneath his sole arm as he opened the door.

He locked it behind them.

It took less than twenty minutes for the two to make their way to their usual training grounds; the clearing was empty, the grass green and grown almost out of control. The sun shone through the canopy above them, and Hanabi basked in that lovely warmth as much as she could.

They took up a position in the center of the clearing.

"This jutsu is rather simple," Sasuke began. "It's what you would call your 'second', in other words, the technique in your arsenal that you would use the most after your 'first'."

"What's the first?" Hanabi asked.

"The Great Fireball, at least that's how it is with the majority of fire users," Sasuke said, and that was all that needed to be said about that. "This is the Phoenix Sage Fire technique, and it's a good deal more complicated than the Fireball. You start like this…"

Sasuke was quiet as he explained the intricacies of the jutsu to Hanabi, but she hung onto every word regardless. Bolstered by the knowledge she'd gained from reading that accursed book, she actually understood maybe two-thirds of what he said. Actually, maybe a little less than that… actually, a _lot_ less, but it was still an improvement on her previous state of ignorance.

"Build the chakra up in your lungs, and use short, miniscule bursts of chakra to separate it into however many different balls of chakra you want. This will determine the number of fireballs that you spit out, but the more sections of chakra you split your jutsu into, the weaker each ordinary fireball will be."

Truthfully, if he had told her that a week ago, she would have had _no_ idea what he was talking about. Separating chakra into different sections? Building it up (intentionally) in her lungs? It had all been gibberish to week-ago Hanabi; but she wasn't week-ago Hanabi-this was today Hanabi and she perfectly understood it. Mostly. Enough so that she could figure out what he was talking about at the very least.

"There's quite a bit more complexity to this one than the Fireball." Sasuke murmured. "So I expect you to take much longer to learn this one in particular."

"Okay, okay," Hanabi said, and she readied herself. "Can- can you show me the hand seals? Just one last time, to make sure I got it down packed."

Wordlessly, Sasuke went through the seals again. It was a good bit more difficult to translate him, as he had to vocally tell her which hand seal to do, etcetera; his lack of a second arm prevented him from showing her them himself.

"-then you finish it with a Tiger seal," Sasuke said. "Most if not all jutsu end-"

"With a tiger seal because that's the hand seal that allows the most fire chakra to be harnessed in the most efficient manner!" Hanabi recited, word for word from Chapter Four of that book.

He gave her a nod. "Let's see your first attempt then," he said, and took a step back, presumably to give her the proper space to practice.

Hanabi took a deep breath, one that reverberated throughout her entire body and left her light headed for a moment. Her heart thumped against her chest, her fingers felt clammy as she began to go through the hand seals, and she found that her knees were shaking beneath her.

' _Calm down.'_ she told herself. _'It's just a jutsu, right?'_

Maybe it was the fact that Sasuke was watching her so intently; after all, this was the first test to see whether she had truly learned anything under his tutelage. The Fireball had been her trial, and now the Phoenix Sage Fire would be her quiz.

She took another deep breath, but this one was to build up the chakra. She followed his instructions to the letter, and instinctively, she called out the name of the technique in her head. _'Katon: Phoneixs Sage Fire no Jutsu!'_

The result was pitiful.

One fireball escaped her mouth, but it was no more the size of a grapefruit, and it puttered out less than a meter in front of her without even hitting anything. The next fireball caught in her throat, and she doubled over. Smoke blasted out of her nose, ash clogged up her mouth, and Hanabi fell to the ground.

Sasuke stepped up to her.

"Look up," he said, and he casually pointed a finger at her. "Open your mouth."

She did so, though it took quite a bit of effort. Sasuke murmured something under his breath, and a small jet of water sprouted from his fingertip-it went into her mouth, cold and refreshing, and Hanabi gratefully used it to wash the ash and such out.

Sasuke lowered his finger after a moment, though a few drops of water still fell from the tip. Hanabi swished the liquid around in her mouth, before she spat it out onto the grass-the water black and tainted, it pooled in the dirt and looked thoroughly revolting.

"That was bad," Hanabi muttered. "Was that supposed to happen, Sasuke-sensei?"

"I don't think I've seen a poorer first attempt," he said.

She cast an indignant look at him. "Hey!" Hanabi exclaimed. "What do you mean by that? Wait, wait, wait-how many first attempts have you even seen?"

Something that resembled a chuckle fell from his lips. "Just my own," Sasuke said. "And I didn't do nearly as poor as you did there; clearly, you still have some work to do."

"Ugh." Hanabi groaned. The taste of ash still clung to her teeth and tongue, and all she smelt was an odor similar to burnt wood. It was horrid, and she couldn't help but cough every now and then, even as she clambered onto her feet. "I guess I'll give it another go…"

"Wait a moment." Sasuke said. It was almost as if he was giving her a breather-then again, she was sure she looked pitiful: lips blackened and the pool of mucky water still at her feet.

Hanabi breathed, and she breathed heavily-her throat stung, and she noted that some of her hair had gotten caught in that sole fireball, and had gotten slightly singed. Her fingers still clammy, she yanked her hair up into a messy bun, though it was very makeshift as she had nothing to hold it in place with.

He gave her a minute or two, and the seconds ticked by in silence.

"Alright," he said. "Go ahead and give it another attempt."

Hanabi swallowed. "Ok- okay." she said.

Her fingers went through the seals once more. She inhaled, she followed all the steps, and-

The same thing happened.

One fireball escaped her mouth, yet the other got caught in her throat for reasons unknown. Again, she found herself writhing on the ground until Sasuke graced her with that wonderful _Suiton_ jutsu that allowed her to cleanse her mouth.

"This one's a lot harder," Hanabi panted.

"I noticed," Sasuke said. "Maybe you need another chapter or two from that book before you attempt this jutsu again."

"No!" Hanabi shouted, and she leapt to her feet again. "I can do it, I know I can do it!"

Sasuke sighed, and he pursed his lips together. His instincts told him that it would be best to put a stop to this right then and there; but Sasuke paused for a moment, and put himself in her place. Would _he_ at that age want to stop?

He shook his head, and took a step back.

Hanabi's fingers flew through the hand seals, she drew up the chakra, and she-

Failed; miserably, because sometimes you could learn a jutsu in an hour and other times you could try again and again with no improvement. It didn't take a scientist to figure out which one this time in particular was.

She fell to the ground again. This time, she knew what to do-and soon, that same stream of water from Sasuke's pointer finger was bringing her the relief she needed. The small pool of black and murky water had become a puddle.

"You're not ready for this," Sasuke said. That implied that he thought that she _had_ been ready for this-and apparently, he had thought wrong based upon her pitiful state.

"No, I-" This time, when she climbed to her feet, Sasuke _did_ put a stop to it.

With ease, he picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. She was so thin and lithe, like a ragdoll even, and nothing short of her suddenly developing Tsunade-like strength would manage to free her.

"Let me go!" Hanabi insisted-voice raspy, she sounded and looked like someone who had smoked for three decades straight, with her blackened lips and ash stained tongue. "I can- let me go, Sasuke-sensei!" She pounded at her back in that classic manner, but it was to no avail.

"You read four chapters, and yet you couldn't manage the second simplest Katon jutsu there is," Sasuke said. He didn't sound angry, he didn't sound disappointed, he sounded-she couldn't find the word for what he sounded like, it just wouldn't come to her.

"I tried, sensei," she insisted.

"I know you did."

Hanabi went limp over his shoulder. Her brown hair hung in her face, swaying from side to side as he walked. "Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"We're going to my apartment," Sasuke said. "I think we'll take a different approach to our normal training sessions for today-and we'll adjust it more later, if this works out."

She blinked. "It's kind of weird taking a girl to your apartment, isn't it?" Hanabi said.

Sasuke shook his head. "You're eleven," he said, and left it at that. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind that other people might seem it as strange-to be frankly honest, he didn't even care. Other people's opinions had long since stopped mattering to Sasuke.

Hanabi flushed-why had her mind gone there? She hadn't thought of it in a sexual manner or anything, she _was_ only eleven, but more of a 'playground' thing; boys and girls didn't mix at that young an age, and it was weird socially to have girls over at your house; just like it would be weird for Hanabi to have boys over.

He disappeared in a flicker hardly discernible to the human eye. It was waste of chakra, sure, but he'd rather not deal with the annoyance of people wondering why he had the Hyuga clan head's daughter lugged over his shoulder.

Sasuke stopped just in front of his door, landing with a swish of his cloak and no more. No one noticed him arrive-by the time anyone would even have a chance to glance at his door, he had opened it and taken both him and Hanabi inside.

He set her down on his couch. "I have another copy of that book," he explained, before he ducked into the other room for a moment. Hanabi sat and waited, until a minute later when Sasuke returned with that familiar textbook clasped in his hand.

Sasuke sat down next to Hanabi and began to leaf through the book.

"Chapter two," he began. Hanabi opened her mouth to talk, but Sasuke stopped her with a firm look.. "I know you said you already read it, but there's a difference between reading it and knowing it. Sit back, and listen."

And she did.

Once he was done with the first three paragraphs, Sasuke turned to her. "What did that tell you?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh…"

He shook his head. "I suppose we'll go over it again then," he said, as he looked back down at the book. He repeated the first three paragraphs, then turned his attention back to Hanabi. "What did that tell you?" he asked her once more.

Hanabi tapped her chin.

"I guess it told me that, er, the key to performing Katon jutsu is to keep your concentration…?" Hanabi said, and there was a nervous grin on her face as she looked at her teacher.

Sasuke clicked his teeth.

"What, was I wrong?"

"No, you got most of it right," Sasuke said, "but there was something I think you missed. Let's go over it again."

Hanabi groaned, but still listened attentively as Sasuke repeated the first three paragraphs of the chapter for a third time.

It hit her.

"Oh!" Hanabi said, sitting up. "It's- uh, I got it I swear, uh…" She rubbed her chin. "It's trying to say that Katon jutsu requires a lot of concentration, but if you concentrate _too_ hard you'll use more chakra than what's necessary, or even cause the jutsu to fail." Her eyes widened. "Wait, is that what-"

Sasuke nodded. "You got it," he said, and those three words meant more to Hanabi in that moment than the years of the batty old elders of her clan rambling on about her 'genius' and 'skill'. "Now, onto the next three paragraphs."

This time, she listened harder than she had before.

Time seemed to pass by at ten times the normal rate, and all they did was go over a chapter that Hanabi had already read. Yet, she felt as if she were learning so much _more_ , because Sasuke would add in little bits of information to go along with the material that made her head spin at just how complex jutsu theory could be.

They only went through about twenty pages in two hours, but Hanabi felt as if she learned more from those twenty pages than she did from from three chapters worth of material.

"That's enough for today," Sasuke said; he closed the book, and set it down on the table beside his couch.

Hanabi blinked her eyes, glancing outside at that beautiful village she called home. It was not quite dark, but from Sasuke's apartment window she could see the sun threatening to dip below the horizon, the sky a brilliant mixture of pink and red, orange and blue.

She stood up. "I-" With a pause, she realized how she must look; the ash that stained her lips and clothes, not to mention the fact that she had singed some of her hair on top of that. It looked as if Sasuke had set her on fire.

"You can't go home looking like that," Sasuke said.

"What should I do then?" Hanabi said. "Sneak into my room?"

He chuckled. "Sneak into the Hyuga compound?" Sasuke murmured. "Your clan has a kekkei genkai that lets them see in perfect three-sixty vision; I have no doubt in my mind that someone as young and inexperienced as you would be discovered by them."

She ran a hand through her hair-when she looked at it, there were several strands of burnt and blackened hair in her fingers. "Can I take a shower here, then?" she said. "I can scrub off the ash and stuff I bet, the main problem is, well-" Hanabi gestured at herself.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine," he said, "so long as you don't make a mess of my bathroom; it's the third door on the right. Towels are in the closet on the left. Don't take too long."

That was that, and Hanabi went to her shower with a hop and a skip.

Sasuke's bathroom was like the rest of his house-orderly, spartan, devoid of the things that made up Hanabi's bathroom, though to be fair many of those things won't have been becoming for a male like Sasuke. It wasn't quite as luxurious as the Hyuga compound's bathrooms, but it was utilitarian and the water was more than hot enough for her needs.

She scrubbed off the ash and the dirt, the grime and the filth. Her hair was a tad uneven-it would take a few days, or maybe even a week, before it grew back sufficiently. She might have to pay a visit to the hairdresser at this rate.

There was no brush, neither was there a comb; that probably explained why her sensei's hair was so unruly. Hanabi made a mental note to buy him one, because seriously, who on earth could live _without_ a brush? She had to haphazardly fix her hair with her fingers, and though it looked a little messy, it was the best she could do considering the circumstances.

Her clothes were easy to fix, as she had predicted. The ash would stain, but if she wet the material it would blend in and allow her to remain (mostly) incognito until she could get home and put something else on.

About twenty minutes after she had entered, Hanabi left the bathroom.

Sasuke was seated in a chair that he had pulled up to the window. He stared out at the village, a blank look in his eyes.

Actually, Hanabi amended, it didn't look like he was staring at the village, but rather the hardly visible forest that went on long past Konoha's walls.

"Sensei?" she said, and he started.

"Hmm?" Sasuke said.

Hanabi frowned. "What are you staring at?"

In turn, a frown appeared on Sasuke's face as well. "I wasn't staring at anything," he said. "I assume that you can find your way out on your own."

"I can." Hanabi said.

"We'll meet again for training tomorrow," he said, "and if your attempts at using that jutsu turn out as they did today, we'll have to do more reading in order to polish up your theory; I'm sure that you won't want that."

"I'll get some studying done if I can," Hanabi said. "Goodbye, sensei." The atmosphere seemed tense-Hanabi couldn't help but feel as if he was thinking something a little more than 'nothing' when he gazed past the village with that look in his eyes.

"Goodbye, Hanabi." Sasuke said.

She left.

And he returned to staring out of the window, not at the village, but just as Hanabi had thought-at the great forest that stretched out far beyond it.

He rubbed the skin beneath his eye, and murmured something unintelligible under his breath.

The sun gently drifted beneath the horizon, and his apartment was bathed in darkness.

Yet, he did not turn the lights on.

* * *

 **Seriously! Leave a review. Reviews are awesome, comments are food to an aspiring writer like me. I love reviews, I adore reviews, I could bathe in reviews if I wanted to. It takes _thirty_ seconds to leave one, and you can really improve my day-so whether it's short or long, just send me one! You don't even need to make an account to do it! Show some appreciation for my hard work. It means a lot, really.**

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 **Thanks for reading. As always, have an awesome day.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Another chapter, after only a week? *gasp***

 **Yup. I felt like writing Tanabata, so I wrote some Tanabata-and this chapter is sure to be a doozy, even if it's a tad short. Don't forget to leave a review and such, and to favorite and follow the story if you haven't already.**

* * *

Everything about her sensei seemed to be an oxymoron, Hanabi pondered, as she sat down at their usual training ground.

He was so queer, so strange, so contradictory…

The following things should be obvious by now:

Uchiha Sasuke was powerful and strong, good looking with the kind of jawline that could cut steel and the symmetrical features that would make a centimeter ruler seem misaligned.

Yet with all of those things going for him, he was so withdrawn, so quiet, so introverted. He preferred to stay inside all night, rather than go to dinner with his friends; he would prefer to sit in abject silence instead of pursue a conversation with even a comrade. Half of the village didn't know what he looked like; he had never been present at one of Naruto's speeches, was rarely seen wandering the streets, heck Hanabi was sure he'd never even had a girlfriend or something that even came close.

It just seemed so strange to her. He had the looks, the voice, the power, the strength, the will, the _everything_ -and yet, he acted as a social recluse might. Maybe she just didn't understand it, maybe it was just too far fetched for a young girl to understand.

She did think about it a little further though.

Neji.

Hanabi had not known him nearly as much as Hinata had-he'd been a presence in her life, a constant one albeit one that tended to fade into the background. He was always there; he was her cousin, he was the person whose father had died to preserve the life of her own, and that was that.

But it had hurt when he had died.

What if it had been Hinata? Hiashi? Hanabi couldn't even begin to fathom how she would feel.

How she would feel if _everyone_ she had ever known, both Hinata and Hiashi, the rest of the clan from the lovely cooks to the legions of shinobi in the branch family, were to perish in such a violent way.

It wasn't the first time her thoughts had lingered on something to this effect, but she had never really thought about it in this context-about _why_ it had made Sasuke into the man he was today.

' _You know,'_ she thought, as she rubbed her nose. _'The whole social recluse thing is kind of understandable…'_

A breeze wafted through the air-bitter, chilly, a cold front having flown in over the past day in order to christen Konoha with its temperature. It had rained the previous night; the grass was topped with dew, and Hanabi busied herself by running her fingers over the blades, licking the sweet water off the tip of her fingers when it had accumulated. She'd always had a penchant for rain water; it was different from the water they drudged in from the river, sweet rather than tasteless, clear instead of murky at the best of times. Pure.

She breathed in, then out. It was silent; often when they were here, she could hear the sounds of the distant village-but this time, it seemed as if the cool air had caused everyone to fall even a little more quiet on that day.

"I suppose we'll try it again," Sasuke said from behind her. Hanabi didn't have a chance to hear him coming-he was far too skilled for her to even come close. She didn't jump though, not like the first dozen times.

"My throat's still kind of sore," Hanabi admitted, as she stood up and brushed off her knees. "That jutsu can really take a toll on you, huh?"

"It gets easier," Sasuke said noncommittally. "Best to keep trying; at this point it's less a lack of knowledge and more a matter of you getting the technique down to a science.

"Even after yesterday?" Hanabi said and winced as she recalled it. The day before yesterday, when he had taken her back to his apartment and read to her from the book, she had been so confident.

Yesterday had been a different story: fraught with nerves, knees shaking, she had only managed to do marginally better. At least she didn't end up having to be slugged over his shoulder again. That session had lasted two hours, and by the end she had managed to spit out two fireballs instead of just one-only a mild improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. Until Sasuke told her that he had managed six fireballs on his second day of practicing that jutsu.

Her chakra levels had recovered overnight, but she still felt a little shaky about the jutsu. She'd done some reading with that book, trying to go over the words like she did with Sasuke, but it seemed an impossible task. Her eyes had continually drifted away from the paper, and her mind had drifted to another plane entirely.

' _What was he looking at?'_

Needless to say, she wasn't confident about her third attempt at the jutsu.

Not that she would admit that to Sasuke.

"Alright!" Hanabi said, as she took up a pose. "Let's do this, sensei!"

He gave her a slight shake of his head. "Do you remember the hand seals?" he asked softly.

She grinned. "Of course I do," Hanabi said, "why wouldn't I? I've got'em memorized up here!" She tapped the side of her head.

"If you say so," Sasuke murmured. "Start practicing again, I suppose; just don't over do it." And with those words, Sasuke sat down at the trunk of a tree and closed his eyes.

The tips of her lips curled down. He wasn't even going to watch her train this time? That was… odd; Hanabi wasn't the proud owner of the 'encyclopedia of Sasuke' quite yet, but she knew from their previous sessions that he was attentive. He wasn't going to let his student out of his sight-not when there were a dozen wrong things he could point out about her form, and that was on a good day.

Anxiety about the whole thing prickled at her gut, but she soldiered on. Her fingers flashed through the hand seals, and with a look of determination, she set to honing the jutsu.

Seconds, minutes, hours, they passed by in the blink of an eye. Jutsu after jutsu, technique after technique, and by the time the first sixty minutes had passed Hanabi was beat. She wiped her forehead with her sleeve, hair sweaty, lips chapped and throat dry and parched.

Hanabi turned, and her frown rematerialized as she saw that Sasuke hadn't moved-he was still, frozen, eyes closed and his back pressed against the tree trunk. "Sensei?" she said. He didn't jump-but by the way his eyes snapped open, she could tell that she had disturbed him.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice low.

"Is…" She swallowed. "Is everything alright, sensei?"

Sasuke pursed his lips together. "I'm fine," he said. "You seem to be improving."

Hanabi did not react, but she _hadn't_ improved-at least, so far on that particular day. She was still spitting the paltry two fireballs from before; if anything proved that he hadn't been paying attention it was that. Still, she didn't push it.

"Yeah," Hanabi said, rubbing the back of her neck. "You know, I forgot that I had to do something today, sensei," she continued, "is there any chance we could pick this up tomorrow?"

"That's fine," Sasuke said. He ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly. "You can walk yourself to wherever you have to go; I'm going to stay here for a little while."

"Okay." Hanabi turned and hopped away, long hair swinging from side to side.

When her back was to Sasuke, she finally allowed that worried look to cross her face. _'Something's wrong,'_ she thought, _'something is totally wrong.'_

For Hanabi, there was one person in her mind to go to when something was wrong..

It was a once in a lifetime thing-namely, for Hanabi to find Naruto in a place that wasn't Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. He was being harassed by a group of what seemed to be school children, who were begging and pestering him to sign them an autograph.

Naruto, of course, was dutifully signing each and every one, a smile on his face and grin wide. Hanabi waited for him to finish the impromptu autograph signing before she walked up to him.

"Hanabi!" he greeted, voice bright and chirpy, floating like the fluffy white clouds across the sky. "Don't think I forgot about you not paying for my ramen, y'know!"

She blinked. "Huh?" Hanabi said, and she was caught the tiniest bit flat footed.

Naruto's grin merely widened. "Don't you remember? I told you where Sasuke's apartment was, and in return you'd buy me ramen for a day. Don't tell me you forgot!"

Hanabi frowned. "Actually, um, speaking about Sasuke-sensei…" she murmured, "can I talk to you about him for a minute?"

He paused. "Sure, I guess," Naruto said, "I don't see why not. What's up with him?"

She fiddled with the hem of her kimono, and bit her lip. "Well," Hanabi began, "he's been acting a little strange lately."

"Oh?" Naruto questioned. "What'd you mean?"

"It's kind of- it's hard to describe," Hanabi said, "because, well, I don't really know him all that well yet. Maybe it's just a phase he's going through or something, I don't know; but he keeps getting all distant. I'll catch him staring off in the distance, or losing attention of things, or acting kind of weird."

"Staring off in the distance…?" Naruto murmured. "Sasuke isn't the type to daydream."

"Exactly," Hanabi said. "And I don't know what to do besides turn to you."

Naruto was silent for a moment; that more than anything made Hanabi's skin turn white, because Naruto was- well, _Naruto_.

"First of all," Naruto said, "I think you might be kind of wrong about that whole 'not really knowing him' thing." He chuckled, airily though Hanabi could detect undertones of worry in his voice. "You seem to get Sasuke better than he gets himself-then again, that's not really that much of a accomplishment considering how much of an idiot he can be."

"Really?" Hanabi said. "I mean, I haven't known him all that long; it's not like it's been years or anything."

Naruto smiled at her. "Who says you have to spend a lot of time with someone to get to know them?" he said. "I only knew my mom for less than a day, and she's always going to be one of the closest people to my heart."

Hanabi spoke no further; instead, she lowered her gaze and bit her lip.

"As for Sasuke-I'll talk with him, I guess. Let's just hope he's not going through another 'I will bring revolution' phase, am I right?" Naruto flashed her a wink. "Thanks for bringing this to me, Hanabi; you know, Sasuke really made the right call taking you on."

A thin smile curled her lips. "Thanks," she said. "I'm going to go… I dunno, home I suppose."

"Be careful!" Naruto said. "And make sure you have my ramen money next time!"

She walked away; it was fortunate that she didn't see that unreadable look in Naruto's eyes as he looked up at the sky, or else her worries would have doubled.

Those white fluffy clouds above them, the ones that had reminded her of Naruto's voice, began to darken..

Sasuke's apartment was dark, as always, and Naruto waved a hand as if he could waft away the abyssal blackness. Hadn't he ever heard of this thing called 'lights'? Naruto knew that he could pay for them-he didn't know why Sasuke seemed adamant in his refusal not to flick them on; a determination that had only strengthened lately.

He had used his key to get in. To be clear, Sasuke hadn't given him it willingly-it had been one of the lines in the fine print of the contract Sasuke had signed. Which to be fair, he'd only scrawled his signature on the paper in order to get himself pardoned without protest from the council members and shinobi factions.

Naruto stepped inside. "Yo, Sasuke, you in here?" he called-there was no response, as was to be expected. His bandaged replacement arm clawed across the wall for a moment, before he found the switch and the apartment was thrown into the light.

His blue eyes darted around, and it took him a moment to realize where his best friend was: namely, laid out on the couch, hand clasped over his stomach and eyes closed. His skin looked extraordinarily pale, and Naruto's heart leapt into his throat for a moment before he saw the slow swell of Sasuke's chest.

"Oi, wake up!" Naruto said, as respectful about one's privacy as ever. He stepped over to the couch with several long strides, and shook Sasuke on the shoulder.

Mismatched eyes flashed open in an instant. Sasuke jerked, his hand flying to his waist where his scabbard would normally be, but he paused upon seeing Naruto.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked. He swung his legs over and planted them on the floor; his hair was messy, and his skin hadn't gotten any less pale. Naruto bit his lip, and carefully avoided Sasuke's gaze so as to not brandish the worry he felt for his friend.

"I came over to see how you were doing," Naruto said. "Were you taking a nap or something?"

"I was sleeping," Sasuke murmured.

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon," Naruto replied, and Sasuke scowled at him.

Sasuke's lone fist clenched into a ball. "So what?" he retorted, "I can go to sleep when and where I want to."

"Stop acting so defensive," Naruto said. "I hear you've been acting strange lately."

"Who told you that?"

"A… friend," Naruto said.

"It was Hanabi then," Sasuke growled. "That little-"

"You can't deny that you've been acting strange, Sasuke," Naruto said, cutting him off. There was an almost fierce look on the blonde's face-eyes narrowed, face stern. "I know you like to stew in your little bubble, but you _have_ to tell me what's wrong."

A pause.

Sasuke stared at him, and this time Naruto was not hesitant to stare back. Blue against violet and black-a clash of wills, a battle between friends that had so recently been in a fight almost to the death.

The Uchiha let out a long sigh, and his head drooped. "I…" he said.

"... I want to leave the village," Sasuke murmured.

"Again?" Naruto said, and he stared at Sasuke-perplexed.

"In a different way," Sasuke said, and he waved his hand offhandedly. "I want to feel free for once; I _hate_ being trapped in here, I hate having to deal with…" He took a deep breath. "I have to leave, Naruto, or I think I'm going to lose my mind. It's not something that's just come up-I've done a decent job of hiding it-but I just can't take it anymore."

Naruto frowned. "You're going to leave us again?" and his voice sounded so innocent and almost heartbroken that even Sasuke's icy heart clenched ever so slightly.

Sasuke's eyes, however, were cold. He locked gazes with Naruto once again. "I can't stay here, Naruto; at least, not right now." he said. "I can't just forget everything that I've done, not like you can. I can't just forget everything that's happened to me either. It's not that simple, it's _never_ that simple."

"So what? You're going to go on some ridiculous journey of _redemption_ when everyone has already forgiven you?" Naruto asked.

His fist clenched ever tighter. "I wouldn't care if even the entire village forgave me," Sasuke growled. "What good is that if I can't even… even if I can't even forgive myself?"

' _What good would I be as Hokage if I can't even save one friend?'_

Naruto was silent.

He sat down on the couch beside Sasuke, and gently clasped his hands together.

"I guess, if you really wanted to, we could talk to Kakashi-sensei," Naruto murmured, eyes downcast. "I'm sure we could make some kind of arrangement, kind of like the one ero-sennin one had back in the day; you know, you still technically being a Konoha shinobi even if there's no obligations that you would have to meet."

"Is that possible?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I don't see why not," Naruto said offhandedly. "It's not like we would be able to convince you to stay in the village anyways." He sighed. "You either leave on our terms, or you just desert in the night again; I think I'll take the first one, thank you very much."

Sasuke nodded his head.

"You sure about this, Sasuke?"

"I've more or less made up my mind."

Naruto swallowed. "What about Sakura-chan?"

"What about her?" Sasuke said.

"You know she…"

"I know."

Another pause.

"Kakashi-sensei isn't going to be happy with you, either; but I don't think he'll try to stop you." Naruto continued.

"I figured that would be the case," Sasuke said.

"What about Hanabi?" Naruto asked. "You're supposed to be her teacher and all."

"She'll be fine," Sasuke said. "I'm going to leave her a few books that she can study; besides, she's a Hyuga. They're prodigies by nature-with or without me, she'll be more than strong enough to accomplish what she wants to do."

"I guess," Naruto said, though his doubt about the whole thing was more than clear.

Sasuke shook his head, seemingly at nothing.

"If we were to go to Kakashi's office right here and now," he said, "when do you think I could leave?"

"Probably tomorrow, if everything goes smoothly."

Sasuke stood. "Let's hope it gets smoothly then," he murmured. "I can't stay here a second later, not if I can help it."

Naruto sighed, and he stood as well. "Don't be angry if I try to convince you not to leave on the way there," he said.

"You won't."

"I know." Naruto laughed. "If there's one thing you and I definitely share, Sasuke, it's our stubbornness. But that doesn't mean I won't try."

Naruto put a hand in the small of Sasuke's back, and together, they made their way out of the apartment-Sasuke made sure to grab his cloak and swing it around his shoulders, not to mention slip into his sandals as well.

The door behind him closed, and Naruto locked it with his key.

And they departed.

… not twenty minutes later, a tiny figure came sprinting up.

"Sasuke-sensei!" Hanabi called, and she knocked on the door. "Okay, okay, look, I know I told you that I had something to do today. The truth is- the truth is, I'm worried." She talked straight to the wood, as if Sasuke were standing on the other side.

She knocked again.

"Sensei?"

A third time she knocked-this time when there was no response, Hanabi resolved to do what she did best, and that was barge in. The door was locked tight.

She searched for that spare key once more… but it seemed to have vanished.

' _Did he move it?'_ she thought. Only she had known where it was..

Hanabi swallowed.

Her fingers twitched, and so did her eyes-but she relented.

"Sensei, why aren't you saying anything to me?" Hanabi asked. "I- I just want to help you."

There was a long pause.

She heaved a great sigh. "Okay then…" Hanabi murmured, and her head drooped. "I'll just come by some other time then."

Hanabi shuffled off.

Outside, a light rain began to fall-the water cold, the day murky and downcast. The people still seemed happy..

.. though not all of them were, as was the case for a certain Uchiha and a Hyuga.

* * *

 **And that brings this chapter to a close. What happens in the next chapter should be fairly obvious, but I'm sure you'll be surprised as to what is to come. Don't forget to drop a review if you liked the chapter-any review helps, and really, it takes thirty seconds and totally improves my day as a whole. You don't even need an account to make one for Christ's sake! Oh, and don't forget to favorite and follow if you haven't already. What's the point in not doing it? :D**

 **If you'd like to contact me, you're completely welcome to message me right here on my profile; I'll respond to most if not all of my messages, so don't think that I'll ignore you. As always, have an awesome awesome day guys.**


	9. Chapter 9

**So... this is a pretty fast update, no? What can I say-I just wanted to get it out as soon as possible. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review.**

* * *

The rain was bitter, cold-it went through his cloak as if he was trying to soak up a lake with a paper towel, and soon every inch of him was surrounded by that unavoidable chill. Despite that, he did not do anything to stop it; he did not pull his hood over his head, neither did he fasten his cloak properly.

Naruto walked beside him, his gait steady and his vision directed dead ahead. His friend was observant though, more observant than most. Sasuke could see the worry that creased the blonde's brow, the worry for him that had aged him prematurely.

Blue eyes suddenly swiveled to the right, and the two spiritual brothers met gazes. It was calmer than their earlier eye contact-not as heated; it was as if the cool rain had soothed the tensions that had developed between them.

"You're still adamant about it, aren't you?" Naruto said.

He had tried, and failed, for the past ten minutes since they had left Sasuke's apartment to change his best friend's mind.

"I am," Sasuke said.

Clearly, it was to no avail.

The Hokage's tower loomed above them; and as if Kakashi knew what storm was coming, he was visible in the window-dark eyes watching the two as they walked through the street, the Uzumaki and Uchiha sticking out like a dab of orange and black paint in a sea of murky brown.

He turned, and ducked out of sight. Sasuke's gaze lingered on the window for a moment longer, before he followed Naruto into the building itself. Up the winding staircase, past shinobi who beamed at Naruto and silently glowered at Sasuke. Two ANBU stood guard outside the door of Kakashi's office; they did not say anything as Naruto pulled the handle and the two stepped inside the brightly lit room.

"Naruto, Sasuke," Kakashi said, and he was seated in his chair now, looking rather impressive swathed in the Hokage's white robes, the red hat perched on his desk. "What brings you here today?"

Naruto's smile was grim, and Kakashi frowned beneath his mask as the blonde placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke wants to put forward a formal request," Naruto said, "to leave the village under a signed agreement; sort of like the one Sandaime-jiichan had with ero-sennin."

Kakashi looked rather impassive about what Naruto had just said; then again he looked stoic about pretty much everything nowadays. Sasuke shifted, and refused to meet Kakashi's gaze. He had stared down Madara, he had stared down Naruto, but Kakashi reminded him far too much of himself and his mistakes for Sasuke to be entirely comfortable in his presence.

The silver haired Kage heaved a sigh.

"I suppose I saw this coming," he said, and he swiveled around in his chair so that he could face the sprawling village. It was still raining outside-drops of water ran down the windows, and a slight fog had descended upon Konoha. It wasn't particularly dense, but it was thick enough that one couldn't even see the walls that surrounded the village.

It was almost a reunion of sorts. Team Seven had not spent much time together since the end of the war-Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had interacted quite a bit, but there were four people in Team Seven, not three; and that was if you didn't include Sasuke's replacement and the Mokuton user that Sasuke had nearly killed all those months back at Orochimaru's hideout.

If Sakura had been there, it would have been a reunion of the (old) Team Seven. Too bad it wasn't a happy one, not by any means.

Kakashi raised a hand, and formed a seal. Sasuke and Naruto both felt the light pulse of chakra he let out-less than ten seconds later, an ANBU had materialized in the office.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" the ANBU asked.

"Fetch me a scroll," Kakashi drawled. "It's in the archives, row sixteen, the third shelf from the bottom with the label 'U-S-C-P Fourteen' on it."

"Of course." The man disappeared.

Kakashi turned around in his chair; Sasuke and Naruto gave him a look.

"What?" Kakashi said, scratching his scalp. "The sharingan wasn't the only reason I could memorize a thousand jutsu; I wasn't called a genius for nothing."

Naruto groaned. "Please don't go trying to list them again…" he said. Sasuke merely shook his head.

Kakashi chuckled. "That was only to torture you," he said, placing his elbows on the desk. "And besides, I could list them all off if I wanted to, and you know this very well."

Naruto groaned once more.

A minute later, the ANBU guard swooped back into the room, a scroll clasped in his hand; he handed it to Kakashi, bowed low, then disappeared once more.

"U-S-C-P Fourteen?" Sasuke questioned.

"Uchiha Sasuke Contingency Plan Fourteen," Kakashi recited.

"You have fourteen contingency plans for me?" he muttered.

"Two dozen, actually," Kakashi said. "Don't worry-they're just a precautionary measure; we even have a few of those plans for Naruto."

"Hey!" Naruto said. "Why do you need a contingency plan for me of all people?"

"Well, it should be pretty obvious, no?" Kakashi pointed out. "We have one in case you're corrupted by evil-" He listed them off on his fingers. "- one in case Sasuke went rogue and convinced you to go along with him, one if Ichiraku's Ramen burnt to the ground and you went out of control…"

"We get it," Sasuke said, exasperated. "Can we get onto whatever I have to do in order to get out of this place?"

Kakashi chuckled. "If you're so eager," he said, as he unraveled the scroll and spread it across his desk. "I figured that you'd want to leave the village at some point; so, I crafted this iron clad contract. Basically, you'll be a shinobi of Konoha who is on a 'long term' mission of sorts."

"What are my obligations for this… 'mission'?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, if we need your services we'll send for you," Kakashi said. "You're liable to be called back by the Hokage at any time, and that right also applies to whoever my successor will be." They both looked at Naruto, who grinned. "You are not allowed to enter into a contract with any village or nation; you also can't father any children unless it's with a Konoha kunoichi, so don't think you can go out spreading your seed or something like that."

"Spreading my seed…?" Sasuke murmured.

Kakashi continued on, unabashed. "You're also subject to the Daimyo's authority, so if he calls on you then you have to answer it, blah, blah, blah, I should probably mention the fact that this has a time limit on it too."

"A time limit?" Naruto asked.

"Basically, it's set to only last for five years right now." Kakashi said. "It can be canceled or extended indefinitely; I did manage to get the council to back the agreement as it stands, but if you go out there and do some unsavory things, they can refuse to sign the renewal in five years. Which means you'll have to come home, or you'll be considered a rogue ninja… again."

He slammed through a few minutes of meaningless things.

Kakashi explained that he technically he had to get a visa to cross the borders to any other country; he also needed to check in with Konoha once a month, either in person or through an animal summon.

By the time Kakashi was done, the rain outside had intensified to something only a hair less than a storm.

"Do you accept these conditions?" Kakashi said.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment-just a moment, before he realized that this was probably the best deal he was going to get. Kakashi had really pulled out the stops to score him an agreement like this; the council must have been furious that he was allowed so much freedom.

He did not say anything. Sasuke simply picked up the pen Kakashi had placed on the desk, and put down his signature on the dotted line.

Naruto had to sign his signature as well, and he did his in an untidy scrawl. The two council members had already put down their names in faded ink, and Kakashi completed the document by putting his own signature down.

The deal was struck.

"You can leave whenever you want," Kakashi said, "as soon as you've made all the necessary preparations."

There was a hint of elation in Sasuke's gaze, one that he quickly buried beneath layers of his typical stoicism. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning," he said, and left it at that.

"Should I tell Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke turned his back to them. "If you want," he said, and took a step toward the door.

Naruto frowned. "What about Hanabi?" he asked. "Are you just going to leave without telling her that you're going to be gone for at least five years?"

He paused for an instant, but only for that instant. "You can tell her as well," Sasuke said. "If you want, that is."

There was a moment of silence.

"If that's all, then I'm going to head back to my apartment and pack."

Sasuke left the office without another word, Naruto and Kakashi's eyes lingering on him until he had whipped around the corner and out of sight.

* * *

Hanabi groaned.

 _'This,'_ she thought, as she cracked her fingers, _'is what I get for staying up all night.'_

Desperate seemed a lenient term to describe her frenzy last night-she had spent hours poring over that book, scrutinizing every paragraph, making sure that she was at the top of her game. If one thing could shake Sasuke out of his slump, Hanabi reasoned, it was seeing her kick butt and take names when it came to learning that jutsu.

She rubbed the dark circles beneath her eyes, and half wished that she actually knew how to put on makeup so she could conceal them. Then again, she wished she could do a lot of things when it came to cosmetics-she wasn't like her sister, who had an army of girl friends who she could call upon to dress and makeover her whenever she wanted.

Hanabi heaved a sigh. "I swear," she murmured, "you better be there sensei…"

He had been so tired yesterday, or at least it seemed that way; what if he just couldn't be bothered to get out of bed? It wasn't as if she could access his apartment anymore, with the spare key being moved or removed.

It took her a good while to get dressed and such; and it also took Hanabi a minute to realize that she was trying to pull a glove onto her foot as if it were a sock.

Cold cold cold. Why was it so cold all of a sudden? It was as if the temperature had plummeted ten degrees in the night; even the ever stoic Hyuga guards seemed affected by the chill.

Hanabi made it about halfway to their usual training grounds before she was stopped.

It was Naruto, there was no doubt about that. "OI, HANABI!" the blonde bellowed at the top of his lungs as he came hurrying down the road. Everyone in the street seemed to part to make way for him-and though he had been on the opposite end of the road when he'd seen her, it took him less than twenty seconds to come to a stop before her.

"Naruto?" Hanabi said. "What are you doing here? And where's your jacket?"

"Gave it… to some… old lady who needs it…" the blonde said, wheezing slightly. "Running in the cold sucks," he declared. "Also, I really hope that jacket doesn't disappear when I dispel-that would be really awkward."

"You're a clone?" Hanabi asked.

"My original's setting up a nice little surprise for Sasuke," he said. "Anyway, I came to tell you that Sasuke's gonna leave the village! Again!" He laughed in an almost maniacal fashion, and grinned at Hanabi for a moment.

Hanabi stared at him.

And stared.

"What?" she said, after a long pause. "Is he like… defecting again?"

"No, of course not!" Naruto said, waving his hand as if to brush off her concerns. "He's got this agreement with Kakashi-sensei that lets him strike out on his own for a couple of years; you know, clear his head and stuff like that."

"You're going to just let him leave?" Hanabi murmured, white eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Well, there's really nothing else I can do." Naruto said. "If you want to see him, you'd better hurry-he'll be leaving any second."

Naruto blinked, and she was gone; if he had been a lesser shinobi, he would have missed her, but the blonde quickly spotted her sprinting off in the direction of the village gates.

He shook his head, and dispelled without another word.

* * *

Sasuke hesitated.

Sakura stared at him with those big green eyes of hers, and he hesitated-fingers only a few inches from her forehead.

He thought about it.

Five years was most likely the minimum he would be gone; and there was no doubt in his mind that Sakura would wait for him if he told her to do so. And what about Hanabi? Would she wait for him if he asked, would she wait for him to come back so that he could pass onto her the knowledge that he had cultivated throughout his years of life?

She probably would if he asked.

That would be five years… wasted; and Sasuke alone knew how one could waste years-after all, he had spent eight years trying to kill Itachi, only for that to fizzle out in his face.

Even if this was a vastly different situation, Sasuke didn't want to put that on them.

He had to redeem himself; and to do that, he couldn't have any commitments. He couldn't let Sakura wait for him, only for him to possibly never return her love. And he couldn't have someone like Hanabi waste five years of her young life waiting for her sensei. Especially when he had that little project prepared for her..

He sighed.

"Take care," Sasuke said.

Sakura blinked at him.

Sasuke turned, lowered his hand, and walked away-cloak flapping around his legs, his pace even and steady.

Sakura stared at his back, dumbfounded.

Then, perhaps twenty seconds later once Sasuke had made it quite a ways down the road, a tiny figure sprinted past Sakura. Once again she blinked, only to catch a whip of brown hair before she was chasing him.

"Sensei! You'd better wait up you bastard!" The word was venomous-truly venomous, because there was a tone of anger in her voice that seemed unbecoming for such a fragile looking girl.

Sasuke turned.

"Hanabi?" he said.

She came to a stop before him, a fiery look in her otherwise pale and empty eyes. "You're just going to leave?" Hanabi snapped. "You're supposed to train me you… you… you big fat jerk!"

Sasuke had to stop his lips from twitching. "I know," he said.

"You know?" Hanabi said. "Then why are you leaving, huh?"

"I have to."

Her hands balled up. "Oh, you have to, huh? You know what I have to do? I have to stop myself from punching you in your stupid face right now, sensei!" Hanabi said, and there was steam practically pouring out of her ears. A dull red color creeped up her neck. "You think you can just bail on the village again?"

It went on.

"I swear! You taught me what… one jutsu? That's not what a sensei does! You need to teach me more, and you can't do that if you're gone!"

And on.

"And what about your stupid books that you were supposed 'to give to me when I'm ready'? Huh? HUH?"

And on…

Until Hanabi finally drew breath, and realized she had nothing else to say.

Well, she had a little to say.

"You're leaving?" she wheezed, throat sore from her yelling.

Sasuke exhaled. "I am," he said. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me, Hanabi."

All she could manage was a few deep breaths. "You-" Whatever last bit of feistiness she had petered out like the last flicker of the filament in a lightbulb. "I- I don't…"

She screwed her eyes up, and mentally, said 'screw it'. Hanabi threw herself forward, and wrapped her bony little arms around his torso.

Sasuke did not return the hug, as one might expect. But he didn't throw her away, he didn't flinch, he didn't seem repulsed by her touch-and that was all she needed.

"You'll be back?" Hanabi said.

"Someday," Sasuke murmured; he paused, and tilted his head thoughtfully. "I put my spare key back in the original place," he said.

"Why do I need to know that?"

"Because you do."

And it was clear that he was going to leave it at that.

There was another brief moment of silence.

Hanabi swallowed. "Sensei, when's your birthday?" she asked suddenly.

Sasuke paused. "Why do you want to know…?"

"Because," and a devious grin broke out across her face, "When you come back, I'm going to punch you once for every year you've been alive. So you'd better come back soon, mister!"

Sasuke chuckled. "I think I'll keep that information to myself then," he said. He reached his hand out-and muzzled her hair. It was still, robotic, and would have been awkward coming from anyone else, but getting a gesture of affection like that from Sasuke of all people overruled any amount of awkwardness.

Hanabi gaped at him.

"I'll see you around, Hanabi," he said.

Sasuke turned, and walked away. Hanabi was dumbstruck for a moment, before she shook her head, flattened her hair, and summoned back her wits.

"I'll find out your birthday from someone!" she called after him."Don't think you won't get what's coming to you!"

Sasuke raised his lone arm in a way that seemed as if he was saying goodbye, and he held it like that until he was long out of sight.

Naruto was waiting for him in the forest.

"I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show," Sasuke said offhandedly.

Naruto grinned, and tried not to touch the headband that lay concealed beneath his cloak.

"It's been a long road… hasn't it, Sasuke?

* * *

Hanabi grasped the spare key and opened up the door to the apartment.

Her fingers were shaking; why were her fingers shaking? She felt nervous-surely, Sasuke had to have something here, for him to so cryptically tell her that she could once again access his apartment.

Soft footfalls guided her through the apartment, until…

Right there, smack dab in the middle of the coffee table; several piles of books, stacked up to half her height, and looking as if half of the Uchiha's library had been brought here. On top of it, a note.

 _'I expect you to get through all of these by the time I get back.'_

It wasn't signed, but who it was from was obvious.

Hanabi blanched.

"He expects me to get through all of these?" she whispered, horrified.

And she didn't even notice the piles of books that were concealed beneath the table either…

 **End of Arc One**

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. Nine chapters in, and we're already to the first time skip.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this. Make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed it, reviews are awesome, reviews are life, reviews take thirty seconds to leave and you don't even need an account to do it! Also, don't forget to follow and favorite the story... because why not? :D**

 **Thanks for reading, and as always have a great day.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I should clarify this now; this chapter is** _ **not**_ **the beginning of the second arc, but rather an interlude chapter. You know, to catch up on things… to give an understanding as to what's going on, and to build up one thing or another for later.**

 **Really, I can't tell you guys enough how much I appreciate all the awesome feedback you've been giving me. Sasuke x Hanabi isn't exactly the most popular pairing one could undertake, but the reviews and the private messages I get have been amazing. Really, keep them coming!**

 **The next chapter will be the beginning of the second arc - quite a few things will happen, and there is** _ **some**_ **foreshadowing as to what's going on that I've put in here and the past few chapters… it's subtle, but it's there.**

 **I'll stop holding you guys hostage now. Thanks for clicking on this story and getting this far - without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

She breathed deeply; the warm summer air flowed through her lungs, an infectious energy coming alongside it that made her feet tap and caused her to twiddle her thumbs. The smell of flowers hung in the air. Above her, the sun christened the village with its light.

Her fingers slid over the marble, thin fingertips tracing the kanji engraved into the stone.

"My apologies, Neji-niisan," she said, "but I'm afraid that I have to go now. I'll be back in a few days, but there's something I have to ask… um…" Her face flushed dark crimson, and she fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "... s-someone."

She gulped, and climbed to her feet. A gust of wind flowed through the cemetery, lifting up her indigo hair and pushing it away from her colorless eyes.

"Take care, Neji-niisan."

Hyuga Hinata bowed low to the grave of her beloved cousin; then, she turned and began to walk away.

' _I probably should have worn my jacket for this,'_ Hinata thought, biting her lip. Ino and Sakura had bullied her into - as they put it - 'diversifying her attire'. Which meant that she had to drop her comfy hoodies and baggy pants, and to replace them with something a little more… form fitting.

She didn't like it, not one bit; it made the boys look at her, and she always went to pieces when one of them cat called her. The worst part was that there was only _one_ boy who seemed immune to the effects of her new clothing: and he was the one she wanted to impress most of all.

Hinata swallowed. Honestly, she could have gone a thousand years without the knowledge that she could attract men - just not the man she wanted. And sure, she could dump the new clothes and dig her lavender jacket out of the closet, but she also didn't want to disappoint Sakura and Ino by reverting back to her old ways.

It was a lose-lose situation for her. And Hinata - being the kind of person she was - chose the option that would least hurt her friends.

So here she was, stuck with these too-tight shorts and a top that clung to her bosom a little too comfortably for her… well, comfort.

And she was on her way to meet Naruto.

Really, in that very moment, she was half tempted to dig up her Neji-niisan's grave and lie down there with him.

Unfortunately she had other things to worry about. Family, friends, her clan - and in this situation, she had to look after the first one.

Like most people in Konoha, the first person she turned to for help was Uzumaki Naruto.

She wasn't like Hanabi though, who was forced to peek into Ichiraku's and roam the streets looking for the blonde. Hinata knew _exactly_ where Naruto lived, she knew that he would be home around this time, and she knew that she wanted this conversation to be as private as possible.

But she was going into _Naruto's house_.

It was a miracle she didn't faint just from the mere thought of it; sure, she could talk to him now, she could laugh and joke with her crush-but the idea of being in his house, surrounded by everything about him, seeing his things…

She shook her head, and quickened her pace. Naruto's house was only a ten minute walk away from the cemetery. It would have taken her two minutes to get there if she had simply taken to the rooftops-but really, she wasn't in any hurry to make a fool of herself in front of the man she loved.

Hinata inhaled as she walked up the stairs, her hand grasping the railing as she took them two at a time. She remembered which apartment was his almost exactly - she was even half tempted to activate her _Byakugan_ to see how many fangirls were likely crouched in the bushes and trees around it; people could call her many things, but at least she had never stooped _that_ low…

Her flush darkened, and she poked her fingers together. Well, maybe she had experimented once or twice-but she had never done it when he was getting changed or something like that! Darn her Byakugan… you never knew what a power like that could tempt you into looking at.

She stood for a moment outside of his door, chest heaving up and down, Hinata desperately attempting to will down the blush on her face-she was near vermillion-colored, and one could likely cook a pot of rice on her cheeks if this kept up. Luckily for her it didn't, and the flush gradually went away.

Hinata reached a hand forward, knocking on the door-she did it gently, but not so gently as for him to not hear her, but not too hard so that he wasn't bothered by her and… um… and…

She had to stop from looking like a gaping idiot when the door swung open, and Sakura smiled at her. She had grown her hair out some-pink strands brushing against her shoulders. And those emerald eyes were as bright as ever.

"Hinata," Sakura greeted warmly. "What brings you here? I was just getting that moron out of bed…"

"B-bed?" she stammered.

Sakura blinked; then, realization dawned on her face. "Not like that, Hinata!" she said hurriedly. "I meant I was just getting him up so he wouldn't oversleep like he always does. You know how Naruto is… he wouldn't be able to drag himself out of bed before two in the afternoon with a good kick in the shin."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh," she said. "Is- is he still asleep, Sakura-san?"

"He's in the shower," Sakura murmured. "I was trying to make some tea, but, uh… it's not going so well." She grinned nervously; and suddenly Hinata felt a good degree of fear for the palate of whatever man Sakura ended up marrying.

' _How do you mess up tea?'_ Hinata wondered.

"Come in, come in," Sakura said, turning her head to try and cover up the blush dusting her cheeks. "Take off your shoes."

Hinata had already been halfway through doing just that. She gently placed her sandals next to Sakura's luminescent green ones… and gazed for a moment at Naruto's dirt-caked sandals, which had been thrown haphazardly by the door.

Sakura lead her into the kitchen… where a burner gently steamed. Beside it lay a kettle-Hinata stepped forward, lifting up the lid just to see that, somehow, Sakura had managed to melt a hole through the bottom.

She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Good thing he has an extra, right?" Sakura said.

A few moments later, Hinata had skillfully instructed Sakura on how to brew tea. Sakura seemed awed by the fact that she _didn't_ burn the kettle… and it was with a grin on her face that they both sat down. The distant sounds of Naruto in the shower (was he singing?) filled the silence of the room.

"What did you need to talk to Naruto about anyway?" Sakura asked, twisting a curl of pink hair around her finger. Her foot tapped on the floor gently, and her glowing skin seemed to hum with energy.

Hinata bit her lip; she knew that Sakura had never meant it, but Hinata had always felt so… empty beside her. So white washed-cookie cutter even… where Sakura had that glowing skin and bright personality, the only thing Hinata had were… curves.

' _Curves can make a boy wild for a night,'_ Ino had told her once. _'But it's the personality that will keep them coming back.'_

Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

Hinata had to swallow in order to get the words she needed to say out. "I needed to ask him about Hanabi…" Hinata murmured. "She's been acting a little… odd lately, and I'm not sure why."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow. "Odder than usual you mean?"

Hinata nodded. "Ever since Sasuke-kun left, Hanabi's been a little withdrawn," she mumbled. "She's been working through all those books that he left her-but I still _saw_ her. I still talked to her. As of late though… she's been locked up in her room for over two days now. Father doesn't want to break down her door, and I can't talk her out… so I thought Naruto-kun might be able get her out."

"He does have a penchant for that kind of stuff," Sakura commented. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to convince him. Naruto's always willing to help a damsel in distress…"

"H-Hanabi isn't in distress…" Hinata murmured.

Sakura's eyes twinkled. "I know," she said. And left it at that.

The shower turned off a moment later. Hinata shivered-she really hoped that Naruto didn't walk out dressed… improperly. He had always been much more 'casual' around Sakura than most girls… casual in a way that would have made Hinata shrivel in embarrassment if she was subjected to the same sights as Sakura was.

Thankfully, he was fully clothed when he appeared, dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts. "Hinata!" Naruto called, as he stepped into the kitchen. "What are you doing here? And-" He sniffed. "What's that… smell?"

Sakura shifted awkwardly. Hinata smiled.

"I wanted to ask for your help, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, averting her gaze. "With Hanabi." She told Naruto the same thing she had told Sakura only a moment or two before, though it was filled with much more stuttering and blushing. She had never been able to conquer her old shyness when it came to being around Naruto…

"What's up with Hanabi?" Naruto asked. "I haven't heard from her since Sasuke left; everything been alright?"

"E-everything's fine…" Hinata mumbled. "She's just… um… been a little worrying as of late. She hasn't come out of her room for the past few days, and she only opens the door to let the maid bring in meals and water; other then that, nobody's seen or talked to her.

There was a look of concern in his eyes. "Really?" he said. "Has anything happened to her lately?"

"N-not that I can think of," Hinata told him.

"Alright." Naruto beamed at her. "Well, I've got some spare time; I can come and help you out. Sakura-chan, you comin' with?"

"I've got some things to do," Sakura said. "You two have fun - I'll lock up behind you… I'll try and make sure the tea doesn't… um… do anything."

"Just take it off the stove when it starts whistling," Hinata said sweetly.

"Wait… when it _starts_ whistling?" Sakura's eyes widened.

Even Naruto looked at her strangely. "That's kind of the point of a tea kettle, Sakura-chan," Naruto said.

Her face turned as pink as her hair. "W-well, how am I supposed to know?" Sakura ground out, her fists clenched.

Naruto grinned… and took a step back. "Uh - common sense?"

"Are you suggesting that I don't have _common sense_ , Naruto?"

Hinata laughed nervously. "I thought you said you had some things to do, Sakura-san?" she interjected.

Sakura shook her head, looking at Hinata as if she materialized from thin air. "Oh… right. Yeah - you two go on, I'll just finish up the tea."

Naruto had already hurried out of the apartment by the time Hinata had slipped back into her sandals; he was waiting for her outside.

"Thanks for busting me out," he told Hinata. "I've never been the best at… defusing Sakura-chan when she gets like that."

"I-it was no problem," Hinata murmured, averting her gaze; still, a happy little blush dusted her cheeks. "Do you k-know the way to the Hyuga compound?"

"Nope!" Naruto said. "You can give me directions and I'll meet ya there if you want; or, you could just lead the way. I don't really care either way."

"I…" Hinata took a breath. "I can take you there if- if you'd like, Naruto-kun."

"Sure!"

He grinned at her in that infectious way of his - if Hinata were a different type of woman, she would have swooned. Instead, she gulped, heading out of the apartment complex with Naruto in tow.

"Nice day, huh?" Naruto said, once they were out and about, waltzing in the middle of the road with nothing in their path, aside from the occasional bystander who waved and smiled at Naruto.

"It's usually not this warm i-in Autumn…" Hinata commented, pulling at the hems of her sleeves.

"Yeah; still, it's gonna get cold sooner or later. Then you'll have to break out the jackets again, yeah?"

She blushed. "Y-you noticed I-I wasn't wearing one?" Hinata stammered.

"Of course I did!" Naruto said. "I mean, it's like I was going out of my way to see what you looked like." He scratched his cheek. "I was just… er… well, it's kind of easy to notice with how big the jackets you wear are and all…"

Hinata giggled. "I-I didn't think y-you were… s-s-staring at me, Naruto-kun… it's just y-you usually don't notice t-those kinds of things."

"Staring at you?" Naruto looked at her, transfixed for an instant. "Well, I mean, you are pretty Hinata; I could see why a guy would _want_ to stare at you. But I'm not like that - the only girl I've ever stared at was myself when I was trying to perfect my Sexy jutsu," he said jokingly.

Her blush deepened. "W-w-well, um… I will have to s-start wearing my jackets again I suppose…" Hinata murmured. "I'm t-thinking about getting some new o-ones though… a few that aren't quite as heavy and… c-concealing as my old ones are."

"You could get Ino to help you," Naruto said. "I bet she'd love to help you find a good looking jacket."

"D-do you l-like Ino-san's sense of f-fashion, Naruto-kun?"

"I mean… sure. Ino's got a nice fashion sense - she's pretty, too," Naruto said. "But… not as pretty as you, I guess."

"H-h-how so?" Hinata asked.

He looked at her, and gave the brightest most heart-warming grin. "Because," Naruto said. "I know you're not going out of your way to look pretty - you just are. But with Ino, I know she spends hours every morning trying to doll herself up; she still looks pretty, but it just isn't the same, y'know?"

"I- I think I get what y-you mean." Hinata looked down, indigo hair concealing her eyes from view. They continued to walk unimpeded. "I-I try t-to make myself l-look pretty too…" she said suddenly.

"You do?"

"A l-little bit," she confessed. "You k-know… on special occasions…" _'Or when I'm around you.'_

"Well, that's only fair, I guess." Naruto said. "I didn't mean to say that you like, uh, didn't care about looking pretty or not, Hinata." He coughed into his hand, a bit of redness creeping up his neck. "I was just trying to say… you know what, never mind… I'm just making myself look like an idiot, aren't I?"

"O-of course not!" Hinata blurted. "I-I-I mean… y-you could never be an idiot to me, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned. "If it were anyone but you, Hinata, I'd say you were lying; but you don't seem like the kind of girl who would lie about something like that. So thanks, I guess, even if I _am_ an idiot most of the time."

She looked away as they continued to walk; her mouth opened for a moment as if she were tempted to say something - but closed only a second later. They proceeded in silence.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama."

Two guards flanked the entrance to the Hyuga compound, draped in simple white kimonos and equipped with nothing but their fists. Bandages were wrapped around their foreheads.

"Good morning to the both of you," Hinata said. "W-we're just…"

"You do not need to ask for entrance, Hinata-sama," one of them said. "And… Naruto-sama, of course, is allowed in as well. May you both have a pleasant day." The guards both bowed low in unison.

Naruto and Hinata hurried past them.

"Jeez," Naruto said, once they were out of hearing range. "I don't think I'll ever get used to someone bowing to me like that."

"T-they d-don't do that for everyone…" Hinata mumbled.

"I figured," Naruto said. "But either way it's still weird - I could save the world another dozen times and I doubt that I would deserve anything like someone _bowing_ to me. Is that weird?"

"N-no…" she murmured.

"Hinata…"

"Maybe a-a little," Hinata admitted. "Most people would be f-flattered by that kind of respect…"

"Well, I guess I'm not most people," Naruto said.

"... y-you aren't…" she whispered.

The Hyuga compound was an enigma: when the village had been rebuilt after Pein's attack, most places had been modernized; new and larger buildings, stronger materials used, not to mention more recent architectural designs and techniques were used to construct them. Not with the Hyuga clan though - they looked as traditional as traditional could be… if someone were to travel forward in time from the Warring Clans period, they would feel right at home in the Hyuga compound.

Still, Naruto marveled at it - the gleaming, well swept floors… the flourishing gardens… the immaculate kimonos that _everyone_ and their mother seemed to wear, even the smallest of kids.

"T-this way," Hinata said, motioning him down a hall. Things only seemed to grow cleaner and just more… _rich_ as they got deeper into the compound. Soon, however, they stopped before a door - it looked like any other of the dozens of doors that lined the halls, but clearly this one was different.

"Is this Hanabi's room?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded. "L-like I said… she won't come out for anything."

Naruto looked at their door for a moment.

Then, he stepped forward and knocked. "Oi, Hanabi, can I come in?"

"Sure!" came a response - Hanabi's normally chirpy voice sounding haggard.

Hinata stared at him in shock.

"You guys didn't try _asking_?" Naruto said, laughing.

"W-we did!" Hinata stammered. "But…" Well, she had heard snoring on the other side of the door; perhaps Hanabi had simply been asleep whenever they had tried to get into her room.

Naruto twisted the knob, letting himself in without further ado. Hinata had to physically shake herself from her surprise in order to follow him.

The sight that lay within… was not pretty.

Hanabi was seated in the middle of her bed - and around her was stack upon stack of books. Scrolls, novels, textbooks thicker than her entire body… some older than her, some older than her times ten, some older than _Tsunade_ times ten.

She looked a mess - hair grimy and greasy, her face filled with al ook that could be described as nothing else but complete and absolute boredom.

"Help… me…" Hanabi rasped, flopping forward and knocking a few books to the floor in the process.

"Jeez! Where did all these books come from?" Naruto said, stepping forward and picking up the ones that had fallen.

"H-Hanabi!" Hinata said. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't… overindulge!"

"Overindulge in what?" Naruto asked.

"I've been trying to get this stupid jutsu for _ages_ now," Hanabi rasped. "I sneak out every night, train for eight hours… I come back here, sleep for four hours, study for eight, sleep another four hours, then go out and train again…" She groaned. "It's terrible!"

Hinata frowned, sweeping forward and scooping books off of the mattress - she set them down on top of Hanabi's wardrobe with a huff. "I'm putting a stop to this," she said, and there was a firmness in her voice that made Naruto look at her with awe. "Y-you're killing yourself, Hanabi!"

"I'm so close to learning it, nee-chan!" she said. "Just a little bit away… a day or two at the most, seriously!"

Hinata gave her a _look_ , and Hanabi blanched. "You're taking a break from these books and jutsu," she said. "A-at least two weeks a-away from these things will do you some good."

"Nee-chan…!"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said. "W-would you mind clearing the bed so Hanabi can sleep on it unimpeded? I'm going to get her in the shower."

"Sure," Naruto said, shrugging.

"Shower? I don't need a shower, I need to-"

Hinata had already collected all the clothes Hanabi would need, folding them gently and holding them against her chest. "G-get in the bathroom!" Hinata said.

"Nee-chan, you don't understand…!" Hanabi whined. "I'm so close, I can feel it!" She turned to Naruto. "Come on, Naruto! Back me up here!"

Naruto sighed. "Just listen to your sister," he said, a stack of books in hand.

Hanabi looked between the two of them - she was a smart girl, and it only took her a moment to sense when defeat was imminent.

She sighed. "Fine…" Hanabi grumbled, easing herself off of the bed and wincing as she put pressure on sore muscles. "I'll take a stupid shower…"

Hinata followed Hanabi into the bathroom, and closed the door behind them.

"Showers are dumb…" Hanabi grumbled. Hinata politely turned around and allowed Hanabi to strip - when she heard the shower turn on and the glass door close, she turned back around.

"I'm putting your new clothes here," she said, setting them down beside the sink. "Do you have everything you need? S-shampoo, c-conditioner, soap?"

"I'm fine, nee-chan!" Hanabi called out over the water.

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. "J-just making sure," she said. Hinata slipped out of the bathroom, gingerly closing the door behind her.

Naruto was only about a sixth of the way through the books on the mattress. "Everything okay?" he asked, concern evident in his blue eyes.

"S-she'll be fine," Hinata murmured.

She joined him in his endeavors - it took them five minutes to clear the bed of all the books, depositing them on her wardrobe or nestling them in a corner of the room. Hinata stripped the bed of its sheets, taking them out of the room and returning with a fresh sheet that she and Naruto spread across the mattress.

The rest of the time was spent tidying up the room - Naruto languished on the bed during this part, talking about whatever came to mind. For some reason, to him, the sight of Hinata cleaning up... being so worried and being so _nice_ , not to that hint of authority she'd brandished… well… it all felt so _right_. He couldn't explain it, so he didn't try to.

Hanabi stumbled out of the bathroom after a good while. Her hair was a tangled mess of wet locks, her clothes sticking to her still wet frame.

"Oh, you didn't even try to d-dry off!" Hanabi chastised. She hurried into the bathroom, returning with a brush. "S-sit down on the bed…"

Hanabi did so. Hinata eased herself onto the mattress behind her, beginning to run the brush through her little sister's hair - Hanabi winced and whined as she tugged as the great big knots, but let out sighs of relief whenever she managed to undo a particularly irritating tangle.

Naruto looked at Hinata almost strangely… he had quickly become a bystander, the two sisters not having glanced in his direction in over a minute.

Hinata jumped when he spoke up.

"You know," Naruto said. "You'd make a really good mom, Hinata."

SHe blushed deeply - so deeply that an apple would have felt ashamed of the color she achieved. "T-t-t-t-thank you…" she managed to stammer out, well aware of the connotations of his statement.

Naruto grinned. "I think my work here's done," he said.

"Y-you don't have to l-leave if you don't want to," Hinata said.

"Yeah! Stay a little bit, Naruto," Hanabi mumbled. _'Please don't leave me alone with my sister… she's crazy!'_

Unfortunately for her, Naruto couldn't read minds. "Nah!" Naruto chirped, throwing his hands behind his head and laughing merrily. "I've got some stuff I gotta go do. Talk to you two, later!" He turned and walked out of the room.

Hinata waited until Naruto's footsteps had retracted before speaking up.

"Are you going to explain what jutsu you were killing yourself over?" Hinata asked, still running that brush through her sister's hair - it was odd, because one half of Hanabi's great brown mane was sleek and shiny, while the other half was still tangled.

"It's some stupid dragon fire jutsu," Hanabi grumbled. "It's supposed to be super hard to learn, but… well, I thought I could manage it."

"A-apparently not," Hinata murmured. "You d-don't have to rush it, you know… you still have four y-years at the _least_ before S-Sasuke-kun comes back." She took a deep breath. "Y-you have plenty of time."

"I've barely gotten through the stacks of books he gave me," Hanabi said. "It been _months_ and there's still no light at the end of the tunnel - at this rate, I feel like… I feel like I'll never be done with it. Not to mention all the jutsu I learn feel so much weaker compared to when Sasuke taught them to me…"

Hinata let out a little breath. "I-I can help you i-if you like…" she said. "I mean… I-I'm r-really not that good at that kind of stuff… b-but maybe someone to help walk y-you through it would be nice…"

"Yeah, maybe," Hanabi said neutrally.

She sighed. For a moment, it was silent - there was only the sound of the brush gently running through Hanabi's hair.

"You're a good sister, you know that, nee-chan?"

"I-I know…" Hinata mumbled. "T-thank y-you for reassuring me, though…"

Hanabi grinned. "No problem," she said. "Now, let's hurry up so I can go and-"

"Sleep?" There was that tone to Hinata's voice again…

Hanabi laughed nervously. "O-of course," she mumbled.

The better part of a year had passed since Sasuke's departure. Things hadn't been so bad since then, but… well…

… things could only get worse from then on.

* * *

 **Welp, that wraps up this interlude. Like I said, the second arc will begin next chapter… and things are sure to take a turn from there; you'll see when it comes up.**

 **I can't stress enough how much your guy's reviews mean to me - each and everyone is just… awesome. A favorite, a follow, a view… those can all mean a lot, but a** _ **review**_ **is something that really shows that you liked the story; so please, if you had the time to read this far, just leave one.**

 **As always, if you'd like to contact me, feel free to do so through the private messaging system here. I'll respond to any and all messages I get.**

 **Thank you for reading; and really, have an awesome day. Catch you later!**


	11. Chapter 11

**It's been a while, hasn't it?**

 **Really, I apologize for such a delay in between the last chapter and this one, but stuff happened. You can thank a stream of** _ **awesome**_ **reviews (that were totally not bribery) that inspired me to go ahead and get this second arc started.**

 **So, what can I tell you before we get into this? Hmm.**

 **Well, first of all, I'd recommend you keep in mind that not everything will happen in chronological order this chapter and perhaps in future ones as well. I order them as I deem necessary for the plot, so keep that in mind as you begin to read.**

 **This arc wouldn't be quite as long as the first one, but it is going to be important. Quickly, it will become evident what the setting is and what will happen — but, I'm sure a curve ball will come here and there to catch you off guard, even when you think you have everything figured out.**

 **As always, I'd really appreciate if you guys could leave me a review, especially if you enjoyed the chapter. Feedback is great; and whether it's criticism, praise, or a mixture of both, I'll appreciate it more than you can imagine. So leave one!**

 **That's enough of me yapping… for now. Let's get started on this chapter, shall we?**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

That day started like any other.

She woke up; she got an early start to her morning. An hour of studying, half an hour to eat breakfast, then another hour to study. Another book to add to the pile of finished ones — it was really too bad that the textbooks she _hadn't_ finished as of yet still stacked twice as high as he ones she had finished.

A shower, some breakfast downstairs, and Hanabi was ready to go about her business.

There wasn't much for her to do that day: no mission, no prior arrangements, and no desire to train either. For the most part she simply wandered around, drinking in the scenery. Despite the cold temperatures and overcast sky, Konoha was still as beautiful as ever; Hanabi waltzed around the village, sometimes popping in a shop or two or three in order to browse their wares and even pick up a trinket. A honey bun; a bracelet; a kunai with a little pink shinobi plushie tied to the end of it. She particularly liked the last one — it was cute in a way, and for a girl that typically didn't buy into 'cute' things that meant quite a bit.

Many would claim that _that_ day in particular had begun and progressed slowly — but to Hanabi, it passed by in the blink of an eye. Morning, noon, afternoon, evening… dusk loomed, and before she knew it, it was time to go home.

She dragged her feet a little. Eventually though she ended up back in the Hyuga compound, only to run into her sister.

"How are you, nee-chan?" Hanabi beamed.

"N-not w-well…" Hinata whispered, clutching a scarf to her bosom.

The two sisters sat down and shared a conversation, and afterwards, there was only one thought on Hanabi's mind.

Sometimes, her sister was _such_ an idiot…

It wasn't that much later, after Hinata had departed to give another shot at giving Naruto her scarf. Maybe… twenty minutes? The young Hyuga wasn't quite sure.

"Nee-chan…" Hanabi grumbled, sandals slapping against the wood. "Oh, nee-chan…"

She twirled the kunai around her finger, pink shinobi plushie spinning round and round. It was hypnotic in a way; at the very least it caught and kept her attention. She walked through the narrow halls of her clan's compound, her destination… the garden.

Hanabi tutted under her breath, carefully brushing off the front of the kimono she wore. It was a beautiful garment, a warm tan color with orange flames that decorated the material. She'd gotten it quite recently — in fact, this was only the third time she'd worn it; and truly, she did love it.

It was a quiet night. The moon was out, just a tad larger than normal — colored a pearlescent white that made it seem a reflection of her eyes when she looked up at it. The Hyuga compound was a network of indoors and outdoors areas, and so, Hanabi could quite clearly see the moon above her. It was beautiful, she thought.

Had it grown a little larger in the time she'd spent looking at it?

No, it couldn't have, she decided. It must have just been a trick of the eye.

Hanabi took a deep breath, and her mind drifted to the conversation she'd had with her sister not that long ago...

Pretty, dainty, fragile little Hinata. With a gaze like a doe's and cheeks consistently the color of cherries, sweet and kind… the ideal woman for most men, and yet she still unable to capture the heart of the only man she'd ever laid eyes on.

Still, Hanabi figured it wouldn't be much longer now. There was only so long that Naruto's obliviousness could hold up — surely, _something_ had to give.

They just had to wait.

Hanabi threw a bang over her shoulder and sighed.

There were these strange sounds in the distance... were they booms? Bangs? Something like that, she figured… it didn't seem to be anything _too_ serious. She couldn't hear screams or wails of agony, so maybe it was just… well, there were a lot of possibilities, actually.

Her finger twitched for a moment; should she activate her Byakugan and see what was going on? No, she decided, there was no need to be nosy. It would pass.

And it did.

The distant noises stopped before long. Whatever it was had finally stopped… though… she couldn't help but notice how the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

A few moments passed in silence, aside from the sound of crickets that loitered throughout her family's compound.

It seemed the danger had passed? She hoped so.

She inhaled; the majestic scent of her family's garden filled her nose. There was something tranquil about it. Her family was so stern and cruel when it mattered — but here she was, standing in a place that could only be described as peaceful, and pretty, and downright uplifting.

And it wasn't maintained by servants, either — no, Hanabi was well aware that the main family was proscribed from letting anyone else take care of this place. She had tended to the plants here more than once. So had Hinata, and Hiashi, and their mother once upon a time.

Hanabi took a step forward, finger brushing against a particularly wonderful rose bush — imported from places she neither knew or cared about yet still so… amazing. Genetically modified so that every color of the rainbow grew on a single bush. She could sit there and look at them for days.

Even Hinata loved them, and she seemed adverse to bright colors that weren't blonde or orange...

"Ah!"

Her mind had drifted a bit — her punishment for that being a slight prick of her finger on a thorn. A thin line of blood ran down the side of her finger, and she frowned as she stared at it.

Hanabi rubbed it off on the skin of her calf. It stopped bleeding before long; after all, it was just a tiny prick. Nothing to worry about.

After all… there were plenty more things that Hanabi should have been worrying about in that moment.

There was a curious phenomenon amongst trained shinobi and kunoichi — a sort of subtle instinct, built up from years of training, that allowed them to realize when something was _very_ , _very_ wrong.

Hanabi was not experienced by any means, but she was talented… a prodigy. And that so happened to close the gap that her age left.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

She froze — slowly, agonizingly, turning around. All she could hear was the pumping of blood in her ears.

"Hello," a soft voice said.

Beautiful eyes stared into her own. They were blue… the color of the sky on an extraordinarily sunny day. One couldn't describe them as _warm_ though — they were anything but. As she looked into them, Hanabi felt a shiver run down her spine.

"W-who a-are you?" she stammered, taking a step back, almost falling into the rose bush she had been examining a moment before.

He seemed not to take notice of her words. Instead, he scrutinized her — those beautiful, haunting eyes looking up and down her frame.

"You are not who I wanted," he said at last. "But I suppose you will do."

Ōtsutsuki Toneri lifted a hand.

There was a flash of light, and then everything seemed to vanish.

* * *

He wet his chapped lips, pulling the cloak he wore tighter around his body.

It was cold tonight; so very cold. Every breath he exhaled caused a cloud of icy water vapor to be expelled — leaves crunched under his feet as he walked, dead and the color of brown mud. Many of the trees were barren, and even the evergreen variety seemed a shade different.

Uchiha Sasuke paused for a moment, glancing upward at the sky.

The moon was out, slightly larger than what was ordinary, shining brightly — a flat disc to his keen gaze. Around it, eating away at the edges, was darkness… soon, the moon's cycle would close. The darkness was envelop the planetary object, the light ebbing until there was nothing to see.

But then, once the last bit of the moon was finally hidden from sight… the new moon would dawn. Darkness would reign for a brief moment, but the light would return, the moon would blossom, and soon it would shine once more.

He took another deep breath, and kept walking.

Darkness reigned supreme. Normally, he would have pitched a tent and waited for dawn, but tonight he seemed not even the slightest bit weary. There was no point in sitting around for several hours if he was not able to drift off to sleep — and so, he merely kept going. And going. And going, until the sound of gravel crunching under his feet built up a comforting rhythm, and the endless expanse of greenery on either side of him became monotonous.

Minutes, hours, they ticked by so slowly and so quickly at the same time. The moon gently shifted across the sky. The air warmed slightly, but at the same time became drier. He straightened the hat he wore and brushed a bang out of his eye. His rinnegan _pulsed_ — brimming with power that could never be entirely shut off, only dimmed.

He came to a pause.

There was a figure stumbling out of the treeline, clutching at its chest, shuffling with the walk of a paraplegic. In the center of the path it came to a stop, wobbled slightly, then fell down.

Sasuke walked forward, his stride carrying him with wide, sweeping steps. Less than ten seconds later, he had knelt down in front of the figure, who had collapsed face down. A mop of brown, slightly bloody hair obscured its appearance — Sasuke grasped the shoulder of the figure, and flipped it over.

White eyes stared up at him.

"You're a Hyuga," Sasuke said at once.

The man gave the slightest nod, a mere up and down motion of his chin. It was doubtful that he had the strength to do much more.

Sasuke pressed a hand against the man's side. "These are serious injuries," the Uchiha murmured. "You'll need medical attention. But… I'm fairly sure that I can stabilize you; until we get you some proper aid, that is. Hold still." He reached into the interior of his cloak, pulling out a small pouch; inside was a variety of things, but most importantly for this situation there were rolls of bandages and an assortment of pain killers and the like.

It never hurt to be prepared; and this wasn't the first time he had happened upon a wounded man or woman on his journey.

The man was… quiet. Sasuke could tell that he was a shinobi: minus the defensive marks on his wrists and such that spoke of him putting up a fight, there were scars, the general build of him, the fact that he was a Hyuga, and the way he could handle Sasuke cleaning and dressing his wounds without so much as a groan of pain.

"What's your name?" Sasuke asked the man, once his wounds were finally wrapped in bandages and the bleeding had subsided somewhat. He had given the man some water, a soldier pill to keep him awake, and a blood replenishing pill that Sakura had engineered and sent to him via letter upon his request.

"Hyuga Hiashi," the man muttered.

"The clan head?"

He nodded.

"I see."

Sasuke offered him a bottle of water, and Hiashi took it with fumbling fingers — holding it up to his lip and drinking. He was still weak, and half of the water he attempted to drink spilled down his chin and wet his front.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" Hiashi murmured. "You- you're-"

"I'm what?"

"You're very for- fortunate that I am in this condition." He breathed slowly, chest heaving up and down. "The way you've made my- my daughter procrastinate these last two- two years… I have half a mind to-" He coughed. "To see how you could stand up to a master of the Gentle Fist…"

Sasuke allowed the faintest of smirks to quirk his lips. "Even if you were healthy, I would advise against doing that," he said. "Were you traveling with anyone?"

"Y-yes. Two of my guards."

The Uchiha formed a hand seal, and a shadow clone appeared at his side. They nodded at each other, the clone leaping straight into the treeline a moment later.

"My clone will look for them. Now, how far are we from Konoha?"

"I have no idea. But where I was attacked, I believe I was twenty or thirty- thirty kilometers out." Hiashi rasped slowly, clutching a hand at his stomach.

"Then I'll take you there," Sasuke said.

"I- I don't think I could handle the speed of your shunshin," Hiashi ground out.

"I'll go at a slow pace."

Sasuke lifted Hiashi up, slinging him over his shoulder, fireman-carry style.

"Get comfortable," Sasuke said, as he began to walk. "It's going to be a while."

Hiashi clamped his teeth together, attempted to forget the throbbing pain of his wounds, and braced himself for the journey to come.

* * *

He traced his fingers around her eyes.

"These are potent," the man murmured to himself. "Even so far estranged from our line, it seems the Hyuga have managed to maintain some vestige of the clan's power."

A wide, empty room. The only defining features: the smooth metal table she was draped on, another table with a selection of tools, and an emotionless iron door. Other then that, it was barren — excluding the lantern that illuminated the room from above.

He pulled on a pair of gloves, flexing his fingers in them.

"I'll be gentle," Toneri said. "But only so as to not damage my eyes. What happens to you afterward remains to be seen, but…" He gingerly picked up a tool off of the table. "I imagine I can find something to do with you, once your kinswoman is here. Perhaps as a servant, or a maid."

He took a deep breath, and then, the operation was ready to commence.

Toneri angled the instrument downward, closer and closer to the unconscious girl's eyes. She did not move; she hardly even breathed.

There were no screams as Toneri went about his dark business.

* * *

Sasuke could feel… _something_. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, though — a pulsating in the air, something that was giving out a lot, and he meant a _lot_ of chakra. But with a wounded man in his arms, and nothing to suggest that said chakra was dangerous, Sasuke merely quickened his pace and continued to head to the village.

He was in a dense section of forest, so cramped and cluttered that not even the sky was visible through the canopy. Hiashi was still conscious, although barely so; his rasping breaths set the head on the back of Sasuke's neck on end. In the while since they'd begun traveling, Sasuke had already been forced to stop in order to change the man's bandages. This was beginning to be a real pain — but, he wasn't about to let the man die just to save himself from irritation…

… not to mention that small part of him that realized that he _was_ Hanabi's father as well…

The Uchiha hadn't forgotten about his little student after all. They hadn't formed some inseparable bond or anything of that nature, but there was a certain kind of attention that one directed to their first student. Hanabi was sort of a benchmark for him; when she succeeded, he succeeded, and when she failed, he failed.

"Oi." Sasuke jostled his shoulder slightly, so as to rouse Hiashi from the drowsy state he'd fallen into.

"Wh- what…?" Hiashi ground out, tone hoarse.

"How has Hanabi been since I left?" he questioned. "I've no idea. And I haven't remembered to ask about her in my letters to Naruto."

Hiashi let out a few coughs. "You'll have to ask her th- that yourself," he murmured. "My daughter's learning is entirely in your hands, Uchiha. If you- you wish to inquire about her well being, you- you can do that of your own accord."

"Hmph."

He continued to walk after that, a surly look about him. Not that he'd forgotten his earlier state of tension — he continued to feel that chakra. His gut clenched uncomfortably; he hadn't felt this kind of pressure since the war. What was going on?

Sasuke swallowed. He rolled his neck, from side to side, groaning as the muscles loosened. The weight of Hiashi on his back slowed him only a little; he kept up a brisk pace, and soon, there was a loosening of the tree's encasement further ahead. Maybe he'd be able to tell how late it was, then — dark had certainly fallen, but there was a difference between eight o'clock and midnight. His sense of time had gotten lost in the endless sound of gravel crunching and Hiashi's breathing.

There was that sense of impending… something. Not doom; but something bad. The same feeling he had felt before the Chunin Exams all those years ago.

A sign that things were about to go _very_ wrong.

As always, it seemed Sasuke's gut feeling proved to be right.

His eyes widened as he stepped out of the trees — his gaze snapping up to the sky. It looked like a painting; by one of those artists that liked to capture their vision of the end of the Earth.

Well, it seemed at least one of those visions had come to pass.

As he stared up at the sky, the moon falling and meteors soaring toward the ground, Sasuke could honestly say it looked like Hell on Earth.

He grit his teeth.

"Hold on!" Sasuke barked, as he _took_ off — the shunshin no jutsu propelled him to a speed beyond comprehensible to most people.

In the time that they'd been walking, since Sasuke had first found Hiashi, they had not gone more than a few kilometers.

Yet, at the speed Sasuke was going now, they were in the village in less than fifteen minutes. It took ample amounts of chakra, but Sasuke had plenty to spare — and he arrived just in time.

In a flash, he set Hiashi down in front of the hospital — then, he _flickered_ away once more, to the center of the village.

Sasuke looked up at the sky; and right above him, a monstrous, breathtakingly massive meteor beared down on them. Even Rock Lee — with his potent Gate activated — only managed to deal with half of it… the rest was coming, and fast, and there was no question that Konoha would be pulverized if it was allowed to land.

It was a good thing that Sasuke would sooner die before he let that happen.

He leapt up, higher than it seemed possible for even a shinobi to leap — in an instant, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people recognized the lone figure that seemed to hover in the air.

Sasuke allowed that familiar sound to fill the air… the sound of a thousand birds chirping.

He smirked.

And the entirety of Konohagakure watched as Uchiha Sasuke decimated a meteor with a single thrust of his chidori-infused hand.

Some people blinked and missed it; one moment the meteor was there, churning down at them, seemingly unstoppable… the next, it had vanished. And high above, Sasuke seemed suspended in air for a moment, cloak flapping in the wind, until he made his descent.

He landed in a crouch, then straightened up.

"Sasuke…"

His silver haired ex-teacher hadn't changed a bit in the two years he'd been gone. Though, that look of astonishment — and relief — plastered across his face was one he could get used to. Long gone were the days when his teacher was the one comforting him in the face of death.

"Kakashi," Sasuke murmured. "I assume Naruto's the cause of this."

Kakashi allowed a smile to cross his face, folding his arms across his chest and allowing the tension to ebb from his limbs.

"To be fair, it wasn't _entirely_ his fault," Kakashi told him. "I believe the man in question was after Hinata, after all."

"Hmm." Sasuke looked up. "Where is Naruto? He should be protecting the village, no?"

"You're looking at him."

For a moment, the Uchiha was confused — then, it clicked in his head.

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "No…"

"Indeed," Kakashi said, directing his gaze up as well — directly at the moon that seemed to take up a third of the sky already.

It would be just like Naruto to end up in a situation like that.

"And you say a man was after Hinata," Sasuke murmured. He vaguely remembered her — mostly because she was Hanabi's sister, to be fair.

"Right…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose I should be the first to tell you, but Hanabi has been kidnapped. Hinata was… coerced to go with the man who did it. Naruto, Sakura, and a few others have gone after them."

Sasuke's expression did not change as he continued to stare at the sky.

"I see," he said.

"Huh." Kakashi blinked a few times. "I was expecting you to… react differently."

"I've no reason to be worry," Sasuke murmured. "I have complete confidence in Naruto to bring Hanabi and Hinata home."

"What are you going to do then?"

Kakashi's eyes widened, and he took a step back as purple chakra began to swirl around Sasuke — a skeleton began to take shape around the last of the Uchiha. Sinew and muscle and ghastly looking weapons began to form.

The Susanoo had not gotten any less daunting after two years away.

"I'm going to protect the village."

And that was all Sasuke said before he leapt up into the air; the perfect Susanoo swam through the sky, and no meteors would threaten the boundary of Konoha until the crisis was over.

* * *

And it did, thankfully, end at long last. Naruto saved the day… again.

He came home with Hinata on his hip, scratched and a little bruised, but smiling like always. He and Hinata were practically giddy, the former at Sasuke being home _and_ of his newfound relationship with the lovely Hyuga Hinata. The latter because she'd not only saved her sister, but had finally gotten to be with the man of her dreams.

Sakura was more than happy to see Sasuke. Kakashi was too, smiling and even gave Sasuke a (somewhat forced upon him) hug since the tension had passed.

They stood in a group, the atmosphere of the village around them bouyant. Not a single person, it seemed, would be depressed that night.

Old ties were reforged — people who thought that they were going to die earned a new perspective on life. And new friends were being made.

"It's n-nice to meet you, S-Sasuke-kun," Hinata said, offering her hand.

Naruto was grinning at him, as were Sakura and Kakashi.

Sasuke sighed, took the girl's hand, and shook it. They'd 'known' each other for years, but it was the first time they'd been properly acquainted with each other.

"So, where do you guys wanna go?" Naruto chirped.

"I'm going-"

"You're not leaving…!" three voices shouted at once. Once again, Sasuke sighed. The three of them — Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto — looked at him expectantly. Even Hinata smiled at him, her hand clasped in Naruto's. His friend, his brother, his brother's girlfriend and his ex-teacher.

Home at last; though it would not last long.

"I suppose I can stay for a day or two," Sasuke said after a moment's pause.

"Woo hoo!" Naruto threw himself forward and pulled Sasuke into a hug. And Sakura joined said hug; and Kakashi joined a moment later. Hinata shifted on her feet awkwardly for a moment, before Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her into the impromptu group hug.

After a few… _seconds_ , Sasuke managed to extricate himself.

"You're paying for our food," Sasuke informed Naruto curtly. "Especially if we're going to Ichiraku's."

"Oh, Sasuke…!" Naruto swooned. "You know me so well. If only I didn't have a girlfriend. Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend — God, I _love_ saying that. Hinata, let me kiss you!"

"Not in f-front of the o-others!" Hinata stammered, cheeks turning red.

The atmosphere was so bright. Once again, their world had been threatened — once again, Team Seven had helped to save it. Naruto had stopped the threat; Sasuke had saved the village. Sakura and Kakashi had both played their part. Things were looking up, things were great, things were-

* * *

She clicked her teeth.

"Poor girl. Do we have the eyes?"

"They're right here, Tsunade-sama," a meek voice said. "I'm surprised Naruto had the stomach to retrieve them…"

"He probably made a clone do it," Tsunade said, pulling on a pair of gloves. "This shouldn't take more than a minute, but we should get a move on… before she wakes up. The sedative he gave her will be wearing off any time now."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Shizune murmured.

A light was angled at the empty sockets where Hanabi's eyes had once been. Tsunade took a liquid-filled jar from Shizune's hand. Tools were laid out on a table beside the hospital bed; Tsunade hummed as she selected one, examining it in the light to make sure it was clean and sterilized to her expectations.

This _was_ a Hyuga after all. The Byakugan was still a valued asset of Konoha, and Kakashi had given Tsunade the go ahead to quickly fix Hanabi's 'problem'. He'd even given her her old assistant, Shizune, to do the job and make sure it was done right.

"Hold her head up for me," Tsunade murmured. Shizune nodded, skirting around the side of the table and lifting Hanabi's head up.

Tsunade cracked her knuckles, and began the procedure.

* * *

Sasuke tapped his fingers on the counter.

' _She must be in the hospital,'_ he thought, allowing his gaze to linger on Hinata — whom looked so similar and so different from Hanabi. _'I suppose I'm obligated to go and see her.'_

The others weren't exactly forthcoming about what had happened on the moon. They seemed to think of it as some kind of game — a way to tease and prod him; especially since he had been so steadfast in not telling them what had happened when he'd been with Orochimaru. It was a way to 'get back at him' Naruto said, that teasing smile pulling at the blonde's lips.

But there was something else there.

What _had_ happened to Hanabi on the moon?

He would find out sooner or later...

* * *

 **Thank you for reading this long awaited chapter, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.**

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 **Hopefully, the next chapter will be out sooner than later. Until next time... cheers!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's the next chapter; enjoy, and be extra sure to leave a review at the end! Sorry for the wait.**

* * *

Her chest rose and fell at a slow, almost worrisome pace; brittle, wiry brown hair fluttered in the breeze that gently wafted through the half-open window. The room she slumbered in was empty, the walls painted a drab white, the tiled floor covered in scuff marks.

It was midday, the atmosphere of the village all but jubilant. Many a toast had been made the previous night — so many had thought their life was at an end, with the meteors and the moon bearing down on them. It was only natural that once the world was saved that they'd all be eager to celebrate.

But not her.

Suddenly, the girl's breath hitched. She was rigid, so rigid that at a glance one might think she had passed away.

Gently, sightless white eyes slid open.

"O-oh God…" she whispered. "I-I-"

Her hands reached up, fingers forming tiny Vs around her eyes.

This was her first time personally being in the hospital bed, but she'd been to one before, most notably when she had visited her sister soon after Pein's assault, when the hospital had been rebuilt. The power had been switched off, but she remembered there being a little button beside the bed… one that would summon a nurse.

She fumbled at the left side of the bed, wincing as she accidentally knocked her wrist against the edge of a chair at her bedside. It took her a moment, but finally, she managed to find the button, and press on it. The button emitted a light 'beep' and lit up — not that she noticed that second bit.

With bated breath, she counted the second that she had to wait… until finally, the door clattered open and a nurse, clad in uniform, stepped inside.

"Do you need something, Hina- oh! You're awake!"

"I- I am…" she whispered.

"That's great!" The girl recoiled as she heard the nurse walk over to her, the heels she wore making frightening loud noises as they clicked against the tiled floor. "How are you feeling?"

"N-not good. I-I can't- I can't see…"

The nurse inhaled. "I- uh… I'm going to go fetch my superior, okay? She wanted me to tell her the second you woke up. Don't worry, she's just down the hall, you'll only be alone for a minute… okay?"

"Okay..."

She shivered as the nurse's heels clicked against the floor once again, only letting out a sigh of relief once the excruciating sound had faded away.

A sea of darkness was all that comforted her, as moments passed by into minutes. She managed to sit herself up, placing her hands on her knees — she didn't dare to do any more though, least of all get up, unless she wanted to stumble and fall or embarrass herself in some other way. Instead, she waited… and waited… until finally, there was a footstep at the door and she felt a vaguely familiar presence enter the room.

"Hanabi," a warm voice said, though anyone would be able to detect the undertones of worry coursing through her tone. "How are you feeling?"

"You're- you're Sakura, right?" Hanabi whispered. "Nee-chan's friend?"

"That would be me."

Unlike the nurse, Sakura wore smooth slippers — Hanabi sighed as she heard the comforting sound of the material being gently dragged across the tiled floor. It occurred to her that Sakura was probably making _sure_ that Hanabi could hear every moment she made, breathing a little louder, scuffing her feet, making sure that she knew exactly where Sakura was despite her lack of sight.

"Am I… in…" The button on the bed should have made it obvious; but, she clearly wasn't in the best state of mind. Considering what she'd gone through, that was perfectly understandable. And, if anything, she simply wanted to confirm it.

"... the hospital, obviously," Sakura said. "Just take a deep breath. Tell me what you smell; what you hear. Tell me where we are."

She inhaled — a slight burning sensation clung to her nostrils… antiseptic, cleaning supplies, that sort of thing. She could hear… the squeak of wheels; distant voices calling. A hospital gurney? A new patient being rolled in?

"Yeah…" Hanabi whispered. "Definitely a hospital."

"Good. It's important that you understand where you are," Sakura told her. "Now, let me get the formalities out of the way; my name is Haruno Sakura, and I'm going to be looking you over until you leave here. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"No…?" Hanabi said. "What happened to me?"

Sakura sucked in a deep breath. "Well, a man went after your sister — a _very_ dangerous man. He- well, I guess his name isn't really all that important, but, he went after your sister because he wanted to… marry her. Not only that, but he wanted a Hyuga's eyes. He could have taken _any_ Hyuga's eyes, but he decided to take yours because…"

"... of nee-chan," Hanabi finished for her. "If the guy wanted nee-chan to marry him, then all he had to do was… kidnap me, and nee-chan would have done _anything_ to get me back. Am- am I on the mark?"

"Near exactly," Sakura said. "I suppose Hinata didn't call you a genius for nothing," the pink haired woman murmured.

Hanabi would have flushed — but she was still much more concerned about the elephant in the room. Namely, the fact that she _couldn't see_ ; she, a Hyuga, could not see anything.

"To put it simply: he kidnapped you, Hanabi. He took your eyes. Hinata came with him in a bid to spare your life — and the two of them, your sister and the man, almost married him. But, me, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sai all came to the moon-"

"The moon?"

"-and saved you. Well, Naruto did most of the work but all of us were needed for the mission to be successful. But, we did rescue you." Sakura swallowed. "But, he uh… he _took_ your eyes."

Hanabi gaped in the general direction of Sakura. "M-my eyes? They're gone?" Hanabi blurted.

"No, we managed to get them back thank God," Sakura murmured. "But… well, the man did a sloppy job removing them in the first place. Tsunade-sama did her best, but, it'll be a decent while before you recover your sight. You shouldn't need to wear any glasses or anything like that… but it's worth mentioning that your eyesight won't ever be as keen as it once was."

"What did he do with my eyes?" Her voice was… unsettlingly quiet and somber.

"For a brief while, he took them as his own," Sakura whispered. "And used them to fight Naruto. Again, we got them back- ugh. My condolences, I… I've never been all that good at this kind of thing," she confessed. "But you're- there's not going to be any lasting effects. You should have your vision back in no time, and then, everything will be back to normal."

Hanabi's hand gripped the hospital sheets like a lifeline. And suddenly, there was a prickling sensation at the back of her eyes — the eyes that some _man_ had stolen, and put into his own head. To use against the savior of the world, and to do whatever he had planned.

She rubbed her eyes; then, she rubbed them some more. And the more she thought about it, the more they prickled.

"I- when will my vision be back?" Hanabi mumbled.

"It depends," Sakura said. "I could use my medicinal chakra to try and 'kick start' your eyes so to speak, but… well, the eyes are tricky organs. Not a lot of research has been done on taking them out or putting them back in, and even Tsunade-sama wouldn't risk damaging your capacity to see by trying to skip the natural healing process. So… to put it as clearly as I can, we don't _know_ how long it'll take. It could be an hour from now, a week from now… a day from now… longer, even. But I wouldn't worry; Tsunade-sama did an _excellent_ job and I wouldn't be hesitant to say that it won't be long before you can see again, Hanabi."

"You sure like to talk a lot, don't you?" Hanabi murmured darkly.

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"N-nothing…" Hanabi averted her nonexistent gaze. "I'm just… tired, that's all. And hungry, too."

The pink haired woman pursed her lips together; she didn't know Hanabi all that well, but it didn't take a psychologist to know that she wasn't the 'snippy' type. Still — waking up blind and being told that some weirdo had stolen your eyeballs could put anyone in a snippy mood. She would let it go for now.

"Hungry? Well, I'd go down to the cafeteria and carry you up some food.. But I think that would hurt more than it would help," Sakura said. "Your sister's stepped out with Naruto to go get lunch, I think. I'll send Naruto a message to tell them that you're awakes and I'll make sure they pick up something for you to eat, too. Is that fine?"

"Yeah," Hanabi breathed. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna… gonna lay back down until the food gets here. I'm tired; you'd think being in a coma or whatever would make you the exact opposite, but… guess not."

"The human body works in strange ways sometimes," Sakura murmured. "And you weren't in a coma, Hanabi." A medical professional such as her was always finicky about terminology. "I'm leaving the room now; when the door closes, you'll be on your own. I'll be back as fast as I can."

The door closed a moment later, and Hanabi could hear Sakura briskly walking away. A moment later, there was a presence near the doorway… but whoever it was didn't enter. Hanabi took inventory of the presence for a moment; after a second, she recognized it as the nurse.

Thank God. So she wasn't being left _entirely_ alone, even if it was just for a little while.

Hanabi closed her eyes. Not that that changed anything.

"My eyes…" she whimpered. She rubbed at them, she kneaded at them, but no amount of prodding and painful poking would make her eyesight come back. And the worst part?

Her eyes felt _dirty_.

As if there was a spec of dust in the back of her eye that couldn't be rubbed away. It hurt. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyelids.

"Go away…" Hanabi whined, rubbing at her eyes. "God- God… just go away…"

But it wouldn't.

Her eyes were dirty. _She_ was dirty. That man — whoever his name was… she'd stolen her eyes. He'd taken them as his own. And now…

She just wanted the feeling of sliminess, of filthiness, of being _used_ to go away.

"... go away…" she whispered.

But, of course, it didn't.

* * *

Back flip.

Duck to the side.

Three shurikens coming from behind, coming from three directions.

The sharingan told him to jump — he did. Narrowly, he avoided being skewered by a fuma shuriken he hadn't seen coming.

He landed.

Blue lightning collected in his outstretched hand, and as a mere blur of blue and black he swept toward the shadow clones.

 _The sound of chirping birds filled the air; blue lightning reflected off his newly awakened three tomoe sharingan._

 _His hand tightened its grip around the boy's neck._

" _This is the end," he hissed venomously._

 _Blood splashed across the water as his Chidori met flesh and bone._

Three clones were taken out, one after the other, each of them dispelling as his Chidori effortlessly took them down.

The original Naruto grinned at him.

"Show me what you got, Sasuke!" he said, throwing up his fists.

The Chidori faded from his hand — Sasuke darted forward, and soon the two rivals were engaged in a fierce taijutsu fight, Sasuke's sharingan closing any gaps in his style that his lack of a second arm would have left open.

Where the sharingan had saved Sasuke before with the shurikens, it was Naruto's immense stamina that saved him now, the blonde taking several strikes that would have felled any ordinary man.

Naruto caught him off guard with a headbutt, before flinging the stunned Uchiha into a nearby tree.

The blonde charged.

But before he could make it even a meter toward Sasuke, he'd already flown through the seals for the jutsu.

An immense fireball burst forth from his lips.

 _An immense fireball burst forth from his lips._

 _The human-chain of clones that had slammed him into the rocky slope was blown apart, drenching the Valley in smoke._

 _When it cleared, Sasuke saw him._

 _Naruto raised a clawed hand up, red eyes glistening with tears._

" _Sas… uke…" he whispered._

 _Sasuke's lip wobbled._

 _Then, his gaze hardened._

" _You're too late, Naruto…" Sasuke murmured, rising to his feet._

 _He seized the defenseless blonde._

" _You're too late…!'_

The blonde ended up having to conjure a thin cloak of Kurama's chakra to withstand the fireball, which burned blue at the edges with its intense heat.

"What? I thought we said no ninjutsu?" Naruto groaned.

"I noticed the clone."

Naruto's grin turned into a frown. "Darn," he said.

Then, the tree behind Sasuke exploded as a clone tore through it, Rasengan in hand.

Sasuke was ready — he flew forward, kunai jumping to his hand. He flung it at the clone, and his blade hit home; with a _pop_ , he knew the target was neutralized. With a brilliant flip he landed behind Naruto, the blonde quickly wheeling around, already forming another Rasengan in his hand.

Chidori leapt to his own hand.

They charged.

" _My mother!"_

Three steps away.

" _My father…!"_

Two steps away.

" _My brother! Bring them back! Bring them back, and then I'll stop!" Maniacal laughter echoed across the destroyed bridge. "How does that sound, Kakashi?"_

One step.

" _What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so obsessed with me?"_

Chidori and Rasengan connected, and the power of their clash seemed to vibrate the atmosphere.

" _Because I'm your friend."_

A few moments later, they were both thrown back.

As always, their clash ended in a tie. Good thing neither of them lost an arm this time around.

Naruto ran up to Sasuke, clapping him on the shoulder. "Good spar, bud!" the blonde chirped, grinning from ear to ear. "Glad to see you haven't lost your edge; I was worried you were gonna be too busy relaxing on your vacation to train!"

Sasuke stared up at the sky. "I'm going to the hospital," he said after a moment, before turning and walking away from his friend.

"Why? What for?" Naruto said.

The Uchiha turned back to face Naruto; the blonde didn't notice how Sasuke couldn't quite meet his gaze.

"I need to check up on my student," Sasuke murmured.

Then, he disappeared in a flicker, the _Shunshin_ jutsu put to great effect.

Naruto sighed. "What a weirdo," he muttered.

* * *

Hanabi tried — and failed — to put a smile on her face.

"Nee-chan," she said. "I don't need help eating!"

It was dark for Hanabi, as was to be expected. To Hyuga Hinata, however, it was quite bright — the hospital room was flooded with light, from the sun, from the ceiling lights, from the very floor it seemed.

Hinata smiled. "You're going to need help eating, Hanabi," she insisted. "You're, well… blind!"

"Temporarily!" Hanabi protested. "I don't want you waiting after me hand and foot. I don't need your help."

' _Even two years later, I can still tell how Sasuke-kun rubbed off on her, even just a little,'_ Hinata thought, repressing the urge to sigh. She was still smiling, though — she was positively _floating_. There was a reason behind that, one that didn't take much deduction to realize.

It was funny how two sisters could clash so much — where Hinata was having some of the best days of her life (sort of), Hanabi was having some of the worst.

Hinata loved her sister; she _felt_ for her sister's pain. But once the knowledge that Hanabi would fully recover sooner rather than later had been given to her, a huge load had been lifted from her shoulders.

Alongside her blossoming relationship with Naruto, Hinata was… well, again, she was having some of the best days of her life.

On the other hand, Hanabi had had her eyes stolen by an ancient shinobi, she'd woken up blind in the hospital, and was still filled with the unbearable feeling of being _dirty_ , filthy, _used_.

She wasn't having a fun time, and just trying to put on a smile around her sister _hurt_.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up," Hinata said, pulling off the top of Hanabi's pudding. "Naruto-kun took me out to Ichiraku's; Sasuke-kun was there, actually, and… it was nice. I watched Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun spar for a few moments before I came back here."

"It's fine, nee-chan," Hanabi murmured, trying not to flinch at the sound of her sensei's name. "Sakura took good care of me before you got back."

Hinata beamed, putting a spoon into the pudding and sliding it in front of Hanabi.

"There's your food," the older of the two cooed. "Eat up!"

Hanabi fumbled for a moment to grasp the pudding cup.

She then grabbed the spoon, scooped up a helping of pudding — and successfully managed to put it into her open mouth.

"See!" Hanabi said through a mouthful of pudding. "I can take care of myself!"

"You spilled a little on your chin," a masculine voice murmured.

Hanabi jumped, spilling the pudding cup across the front of her hospital gown. Hinata jumped a little as well, but her smile only grew as recognition flooded her white eyes.

"Sasuke-kun," Hinata said warmly. "I presume your spar with Naruto-kun went well? You didn't hurt my boyfriend, did you?" The way she grinned at the word 'boyfriend' showed just how much she enjoyed saying that.

"He's fine; we tied, like usual," Sasuke murmured, leaning against the wall. He'd entered the room in complete silence — neither Hinata or Hanabi had even noticed the door opening or closing.

"Did you want to talk to Hanabi?" Hinata asked.

"In private, if you don't mind."

"Not a problem at all," the Hyuga said, standing up from her chair. "I'll head out for something to eat. I'll be back later, Hanabi, alright?"

"Alright, nee-chan," Hanabi said.

She heard the door close a moment later.

Sasuke took a step forward, until he was right beside the hospital bed. Hanabi shivered, because despite him still being a good foot or two away, she couldn't help but realize how _warm_ he was.

"Hanabi…" he muttered. "What the hell did you get yourself into?"

She threw herself at him, wrapped her arms around him, and began to sob.

"Sasuke-sensei…" Hanabi whined into his chest. "Oh God, it was- it was horrible. That man stole my eyes… I- I can't see! I'm just… oh God… Sasuke-sensei…" She sobbed uncontrollably.

Sasuke didn't do anything — he stood there, rigid as stainless steel. But he didn't push her away. He didn't scrunch his nose in disgust. He closed his eyes and wished that he could ignore the way his heart clenched at her broken sobs.

The best option was probably to let her cry her heart out into his shirt, but unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't the most 'considerate' of people.

"Did you at least put a fight?" he asked.

"Wh- what?" she spluttered, staring up at him with those sightless white eyes — tears glistened, streaming down her cheeks freely. Her arms were locked around his waist.

Sasuke clicked his teeth. "I thought I'd trained you better than that, Hanabi," the Uchiha said.

"He- he was too fast!" Hanabi insisted. "I-I c-couldn't have put up a fight!"

"That's unlikely," he said. "The man who kidnapped you was powerful, but he would have underestimated you. You _could_ have put up a fight." Sasuke sighed. "The truth is: you let your guard down."

Tears stopped falling; in their place was a resolute determination. "May- maybe I did! But the first thing you say to me in _two years_ is complaining about how I- I didn't put up a fight? Against some guy who took on Uzumaki Naruto head to head?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm not saying you had to _win_. But you have to put up a fight at least; that's speaking from experience."

"From experience?"

He sighed. "Well… that's a story for another time. But let's just say that I almost backed down from a fight that changed my life forever, against someone who was _much_ more powerful than me, Funnily enough, Sakura was the one to make me step up then — maybe you couldn't do the same because you didn't have anyone there to make _you_ step up." He paused. "Whatever; I suppose it doesn't matter now. We can work on whatever problems you have in the meantime… and next time, you'll be ready."

Hanabi paused. "A fight that… changed your life forever?" she said. "When? Where? Against who?"

"That is a story for another time." He put a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back — instinct made her unlatch her arms from around his waist. "Lay back down, dry your eyes."

She did as he said — by the time she was done, her brief outburst of tears was hardly noticeable. Aside from the redness around her eyes, of course.

He paused and so did she; a moment later, they both turned as the door gently opened. Sasuke must have felt her coming, Hanabi reasoned, as she watched none other than Sakura edge into the room.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said warmly. "Are you still for a little longer?"

"Not that long," he muttered, rather curt in his demeanor. "I only had time to spar with Naruto and talk to Hanabi, then I'm leaving."

"Oh." Sakura swallowed, blinking her emerald eyes rapidly. "That's… okay."

Sasuke turned back to Hanabi. "In about a week, I'm going to send you a letter," he murmured to her. "It'll arrive along with one of my hawks; in it, I'm going to contain a series of instructions, okay? We're going to get a headstart on your training. You're going to be _ready_."

"Got it," Hanabi said, nodding vehemently.

She was smiling — and, unlike before with Hinata, it was a genuine one. Broad, sparkling white teeth glinting in the light of the room. Aside from her reddened eyes, she looked… much, much healthier than she had less than ten minutes before.

"How long is it going to be before her vision comes back?" Sasuke asked, the Uchiha facing Sakura now.

"Well…"

"She said it shouldn't be _too_ long," Hanabi interjected. "Like, my vision could come back right now; or tomorrow; or next year. But hopefully it'll be like, tomorrow or five minutes from now."

Sasuke blinked. "... alright," he said. "You take care, Sakura. One week, Hanabi!"

"One week!" she called, grinning from ear to ear.

Sakura stared at Sasuke's back as he walked past her, and out of the room.

"Okay," Sakura said, swallowing audibly. "Let's check to make sure everything's alright with you, Hanabi…"

* * *

And sure enough, one week later…

* * *

 **Thanks for reading this chapter, guys. Sorry it took so long to get it out of the door, but I've been super busy as of late and I had a lot on my plate. Regardless, I really hope you all enjoyed it!**

 **Don't forget to leave some feedback if you enjoyed it, :). Every review does a lot to make me want to write the next chapter of this story, so take some time out of your day to leave a review, please!**

 **The next chapter should be out sooner rather than later. Until then, you guys be safe, and as always, have an awesome day!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:**

 **I do, genuinely, apologize for the wait on this chapter. I don't really have any excuses, all I hope is that this chapter is good enough to make up for it. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave a comment telling me what you think.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The bird's caw went unnoticed by the two sisters as they paced slowly through the garden.

Well, not unnoticed. But certainly unheeded at the very least, as both of them were practically in their own worlds.

Hanabi stumbled—quite ungracefully at that, nearly tumbling over and faceplanting. Only her sibling's steady grip on her elbow kept her upright. Face red and on the verge of steaming, Hanabi brushed off the front of her kimono, trying to keep her composure.

Hinata smiled ever so slightly. "Don't worry," she whispered. "There's no one who could have seen that."

The younger of the two breathed a sigh of relief. "Ugh," Hanabi mumbled. "There's a reason I didn't want to go on a walk in the first place… it's 'cuz of stuff like that."

She was fine with embarrassing herself in front of her sister. In front of other members of the clan, though… well, that was a different story. And they wouldn't be alone forever.

There was a gentle pulse of silence, one that steadily grew tense as Hinata kept glancing toward her sister.

Finally, she broke it.

"Sakura-san tells me that there's been a little progress in the recovery of your eyesight," said Hinata, her tone quiet.

Hanabi stilled. It was only for the briefest of instances, hardly even a second, but a kunoichi far below Hinata's caliber would have noticed it.

"Yeah," Hanabi murmured. "It's, uh, it's gotten a little better." She looked away from Hinata—not that that did much. "It's still blackness. But whenever I look at something bright—the sun, for instance—I can see flashes of white. So, it's something, I guess."

Which would sound like good news to most people, but to them sounded like the reading of an obituary. Not that it wasn't good news— it was, of course. But they'd hoped for a much speedier recovery. For a Hyuga to be reduced to virtual blindness for even a week was akin to plugging up an Inuzuka's nose.

Even with gifted healers like Tsunade or Sakura on hand, it was a tough process. Setting a bone, sewing up wounds— that was elementary compared to the intricacies that came with the human eye.

'" _I've never dealt with something like this before,"_ Sakura had privately admitted to Hinata, a few days prior when they'd thought Hanabi had been sleeping. _"I've dealt with people whose eyes have been ripped out, stabbed out, whatever. But I've never had a case like your sister's—her eyes taken out, yet recovered in perfect condition and able to be implanted back in her head. Tsunade said she's never seen anything like this either. We honestly don't know what we're dealing with."_

Hanabi rubbed her forehead.

Uncertainty was not the most comforting feeling for someone who had just, one week prior, gone through a traumatic experience. It was not even _close_ to a comforting feeling.

She really wished she hadn't so light a sleeper since _that_ night. Things would be, at the very least, a little easier without Sakura's words hanging over her head.

There it was; the caw of a hawk once more. This time it was nearly deafening to the blind girl, whose senses were amplified by her lack of sight.

Though she couldn't see it, Hinata did. The bird swept down, gliding across the air as a ballerina might across smooth ice. It dropped a scroll into Hinata's outstretched and open hand, then flew off once more.

"What was that?" Hanabi's heart was suddenly thumping. "Did—wait, has it been a week yet?"

"I'd suppose so," Hinata said, letting go of her sibling's shoulder so that she could unfurl the scroll.

Hinata had been so busy as of late, what with having to juggle her newfound relationship with Naruto and take care of Hanabi, that she hadn't the time to keep track of the days. And with Hanabi in her blind state, she had quite a lot of trouble keeping track of time. Now, to her credit, she'd only been a day off—she'd thought it had been six days.

Hanabi waited with bated breath, yet Hinata said nothing.

"What are you waiting for…?" Hanabi said, thumping her elder sister on the shoulder with an open palm. "Read it!"

"Why can't you—" The penny dropped. "Oh, right. I—yes, g-give me a second."

Hinata cleared her throat, face hot. She hoped her sister's disability would clear up soon, because she certainly didn't want to get _used_ to having a blind sibling.

" _Hanabi,"_ began Sasuke's letter. _"If you are reading this yourself, then it's good to hear that your eyesight has returned. If you need someone else to read this for you—a family member or a nurse, perhaps—then don't worry. Nothing in this letter is confidential, and I will only begin to send anything for your-eyes-only when I'm sure your vision has returned."_

" _It's been two years, and I hope you have been polishing your skills since I departed. Those books I gave you were mostly to brush up on your theory of jutsu and such—I'd be astounded if you learned any practical knowledge from them. That's what these letters are for; if you read the books like I asked you to, you'll know the basics behind what I'm about to explain."_

" _The next jutsu I wish for you to learn…"_

They continued to walk as Hinata read the letter aloud.

Strange as it was, Hanabi could almost hear Sasuke's voice as Hinata spoke the words her sensei had penned. The inflection was there, the words. If she tried as hard as she could, she could nearly imagine him standing right beside her, saying the words right into her ear.

Hanabi cut Hinata off before she could finish the letter.

"How does he expect me to learn this stuff when I'm _blind_?" she said. Despite the fact that she herself had said the word, she winced upon hearing it fall from her lips. But it was true.

Hinata giggled. "Let me finish," she said, clearing her throat once more.

" _Of course, I don't expect you to be able to accomplish any of this while still without your sight. This is merely an introduction, a guideline that I expect you to follow once you're ready to train once more. Send a letter addressed to me via one of the village's hawks when your vision has returned—in the time it takes to deliver the letter and for me to send one back to you, I'll expect for you to have completed the first step of what I have detailed in this letter."_

And that was it.

"Oh, okay," said Hanabi. "So, I've just got to wait until I get my eyesight back. Shouldn't be too much longer, right?"

She closed her eyes.

Then opened them.

Nothing. She _was_ wearing a blindfold, but even then, if she could see again she'd be able to see light through it. Darn.

"... maybe a little longer than I'd hope," she confessed.

Hinata smiled. "Let's keep walking," she said, rolling the scroll back up and gently putting it into a pocket. "You need to stretch those legs out—laying around all the time won't make training any easier once your vision's back."

"Yeah… yeah! Let's keep going," Hanabi mumbled.

They went on their way; Hanabi's gait was surprisingly steady, despite her disability. Hinata's smile grew.

Neither of them noticed it, but Hanabi didn't even come close to stumbling again on the rest of their walk.

* * *

"My eyes sting a bit." She paused. "Is that a good sign?"

Sakura remained quiet. The only sound in the room was the sound of her pencil scribbling across the clipboard in her hand. She had it purposefully angled so Hanabi couldn't see a word.

"When was the last time you removed your blindfold?" asked Sakura.

"Uhhh, last night before I went to sleep," Hanabi said. "And the room was—probably—dark so if I could see anything I'm not sure."

"Okay." Sakura set down the clipboard—she pulled out a small light. "Remove your blindfold, please, and don't look away. You know the drill by now."

"Yeah…"

Hanabi gingerly took off the blindfold, a small black thing that she could tie around her head. She set it down on what she thought was the desk, then leaned back. It wasn't totally black now—it varied a bit… sometimes there was flashes of white and of green and of blue.

Sakura stood and walked around, placing a gentle hand on Hanabi's shoulder to let her know that she was there. "Alright. I'm going to shine a light into your left eye. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

The light clicked on. Hanabi was stunned for a moment—all the vision in her left eye turned a bright white, so she could _see_ the light. It stung a little.

"Your pupils are responding correctly," said Sakura. "What can you see?"

"A bright light shining in my eye."

Sakura chuckled. "Good answer," she said. "Now for your right eye."

It was the same result.

"Don't despair," Sakura told Hanabi, as she walked back around and sat back down in her chair, picking up the clipboard. "These things take time. And you've already come a long way since when you first came out of surgery."

Hanabi smiled, but it was hollow.

"Yeah," she said.

Two weeks down. How much longer before she could see again…? How much longer before she could continue her training? The anticipation was making her go insane.

Maybe next week.

* * *

Maybe the week after that.

* * *

Maybe next month.

* * *

It was slow, gradual, and painful at times.

But her vision returned.

Things were blurry. She had to wear these special glasses that would make things a little easier on her eyes—it was tough to see things that were far away. But she could _see_ again.

It wasn't some special moment, surrounded by friends and family. She was just sitting there, bored out of her mind, and then… the fog lifted. She could see, vaguely, the chair she was sitting in. When her sister heard her calls, she could see that head of blue hair, those big white eyes, that gorgeous, fair skin.

The coming days only made her vision better and better. Before long she could _read_ again, and never would she think she would be so happy as to say that. She could read the letter Sasuke had sent her herself.

As he'd asked, she sent him the letter telling him that her vision had returned.

And also as he'd asked, she got straight to training.

* * *

The next letter arrived before long.

' _It's good to hear that your vision has returned,'_ was the first sentence. _'Presumably, in the past few days you've trained on what I instructed to do. Whether or not you made progress is irrelevant—I'll still fill you in on what to do next. Send me a letter once you've completed both.'_

Hanabi gulped.

It took nearly a month before she worked through the first two letters of written training. He was very thorough in explaining _exactly_ what she wanted to do, but it was tough work without him there to directly supervise her, and she had to spend plenty of time at the hospital getting check-ups and the like.

Still, she made it through. It was time to pen her own letter.

She sat at a desk in her room, darkness the only thing at her window. A small candle was lit beside her, the only light in the whole of her bedroom.

Hanabi rubbed her head. What should she write? She didn't want it to be as dreadfully boring as 'I finished both' and nothing more. There had to be pizzazz—something interesting!"

She gulped.

Picking up her pen, she began to write. She took great care to ensure her handwriting was as straight and as neat as possible.

' _Dear Sasuke. I finished the stuff you told me to do in those first two letters! It was super easy.'_

She paused for a few moments, pen hovering over the parchment.

' _It's been really boring around here ever since… well, you know. So I'm glad that you're giving me some stuff to keep me busy.'_

Another pause.

' _How's your journey going? How much cool stuff have you gotten up to? Can't wait to see what you have planned for me next. Hanabi.'_

Hanabi gulped. She just had to hope that he wouldn't be offended or whatever by her asking those sort of questions. With anyone else she wouldn't have been worried, but Sasuke was… Sasuke. Who knew what he would say?

But it was already written. Resisting the urge to cross it out, Hanabi neatly sealed the letter.

She made her way to where the family birds resided. Hyuga tradition had dictated for generations that all communication was to be done by privately owned birds, so as to avoid contamination of private and confidential information. What she had wasn't exactly either of those, but at the same time, it was the easiest way to get it to Sasuke.

Hanabi and Hinata 'shared' a bird. It wasn't theirs technically, but it was the only one the two siblings used and it had a soft spot for them. It nipped Hanabi's finger affectionately, before allowing her to tie the letter to its leg.

"This is going to Uchiha Sasuke," she murmured.

Birds of this type were smarter than they looked. They were specially bred animals that were tied to the Hyuga clan by a summoning contract, and therefore had the special abilities that came with being a summoning animal. All she had to do was stroke its feathers, give the bird a name, and it _would_ find Sasuke sooner or later.

She leaned back, and her bird took off.

Hanabi took in a deep breath. Now to await her sensei's response.

* * *

She was almost disappointed to find that she hadn't been awake to see the bird arrive.

The window had been open. As it'd been every night since she'd sent the letter. And on the desk waited a response.

' _Good,'_ it began. _'Your progress is excellent. A word of advice: Hatake Kakashi is an expert on the theory of fire jutsu if not the application of it, and if you are to get stuck on any of my instructions, it may pay dividends to go to him and enlist his aid. Now, for your next task…'_

More instructions. She drank in each word, each sentence, pulling up a piece of paper and writing notes as she read. Before long she got to the end.

' _As for what I've done on my journey… I have traveled, a lot, as you may presume. I have been to each of the major villages and many of the minor ones. Truthfully, much of it has been dull. None of the challenges I've faced have really been that much of a challenge—it's all been tedious work. But it's necessary.'_

' _We will stick to the same arrangement as before. Once you're done with the instructions I've given you in this letter, send me a response and I'll send you the next batch of instructions. Remember—if you're stuck, reread the advice I gave you at the beginning. Sasuke.'_

Hanabi stared at his signature for a good minute or two.

"Alright," she whispered, fingers tapping gently on the desk. It was early morning, so early that the sun was just barely beginning to crest the horizon.

She cracked her knuckles.

There was no time to waste. Before breakfast, before dawn, she would train.

With determination in her eyes, Hanabi stood up and began to get ready.

* * *

Sasuke's advice ended up being extraordinarily useful.

She truly got stuck on this new assignment she'd been given. The details weren't important—what _was_ important was that she had no idea how to proceed, what to do, how to do it. Consulting some of the books Sasuke had left for her before he'd gone on his trip did nothing. It seemed she would have to resort to her last option.

Unsurprisingly, Hanabi had some 'strings' to pull in order to be given a brief 'appointment' with Kakashi. Or, in other words, she had her sister ask Naruto to bring her before the Hokage without having to go through the village's infamous bureaucracy.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, waving a hand as they barged into the man's office without even knocking. Well, more accurately, _he_ barged in. Hanabi stood in the doorway, face a sheet white.

"Can I help you, Naruto?" replied the Rokudaime Hokage.

Considering his reputation for laziness preceded him, Hanabi almost expected the silver haired man to be asleep, or reading a book, or simply slacking off.

Instead, however, he was hunched over a pile of paperwork, dark lines underneath his eyes. He gently massaged his hand, bending his fingers and cracking the knuckles.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "You know Hinata's little sister, right? Hanabi? Well, she needed your help with something."

Kakashi's gaze drifted past the blonde and to the teenage girl standing in the doorway.

"You can come in," he said, waving her inside.

Hanabi swallowed; carefully, she stepped inside of the room. She made her way to Naruto's side. He was tall, so much taller than her that he cast a shadow over her. She bit her tongue, knees shaking slightly.

"As you know Hokage-sama… I'm… training under your former student, Uchiha Sasuke," Hanabi began. Kakashi nodded—Hanabi gulped once more. "When he left after the… moon incident… he began to give me instructions on how to continue my training even when he was away from the village. Now—well, he gave me a recent task that's, um, a little too difficult for me to handle on my own. In my letter, he suggested that I go to you if I got stuck, because, uh, because you're extraordinarily proficient at fire jutsu." She lowered her head. "So… could you help me with this technique, Hokage-sama?"

Kakashi didn't answer for a moment.

"What technique are you having a problem with?" he asked quietly.

Hanabi fought to keep herself from grinning. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper—not wanting to give the letter itself to Kakashi, she'd instead transcribed just the instructions Sasuke had given her on how to learn the technique and nothing else.

She stepped forward, sliding the paper in front of him. Kakashi spent a moment reading it, before nodding.

"This one," he said. "It's a tricky one, I'll give you that. Of course I'll be able to help you with it, though more on the theory side rather than the practical… I can't really spare the time to go out to a training ground and show you how to do it that way," Kakashi told her.

"That's—that's fine!" she said, beaming at him. "Do you want to tell me what I need to know now? Or do you want for me to come back later?"

"We can do it now," Kakashi said. "Sit."

Naruto grinned. "Alright—I'm gonna head out then. My job's done," the blonde announced. "See ya, Kakashi-sensei, Hanabi."

Hanabi waved him goodbye; Kakashi nodded. He was out the door a moment later, pulling it closed behind him.

"When I was in the ANBU, I had to teach a recruit this jutsu in particular," Kakashi began. "He had a lot of trouble with it; in the end, I came up with a trick that should help you learn. Don't despair if you can't get it for a while—that recruit I had to teach it to was nineteen and even he took a good amount of time to learn it. Now, let's start with—"

She listened intently, ears perked, hands folded in her lap.

' _He's good,'_ Hanabi thought. There was a way he explained things—simple, concise, yet not leaving out any necessary details. He was very clear about how he spoke. Only once or twice did she have to ask him to clarify something he'd said.

It suddenly occurred to her that she was talking to _Hatake Kakashi_. The man who had been Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke's trainer in their early years. It was true that he hadn't done the bulk of all their training—that had been Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru respectively. But he'd set them on the path that lead them to becoming so powerful. Everyone knew that Kakashi had given Sasuke his signature jutsu, _Chidori_. And everyone also knew that Naruto's obscenely powerful _Rasenshuriken_ had only been obtained with Kakashi's help.

This man wasn't a legend on par with Naruto or Sasuke, but he was pretty darn close. That sort of realization hit Hanabi like a brick to the forehead—she blinked a few times, wobbling slightly.

"Do you understand?"

"Huh?"

She blinked again.

Kakashi gave her a quizzical look. "I said: do you understand?"

"Yeah—yeah," Hanabi said. "I get what you're trying to say."

"Alright." Kakashi nodded slightly. "After that, the next thing I'd recommend you try is—"

He didn't take much longer to get the point across. When he wrapped up the brief lesson, Hanabi couldn't help but feel… _confident_ in what was she was about to attempt.

"That's about it, I think. Any questions?"

Hanabi slowly shook her head.

Kakashi shot her a wink. "You're dismissed, then; good luck. Don't be afraid to come back to me if you need anything—and really, there's no need for you to bring Naruto along. If anybody needs me, I'm always here."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Hanabi said. She stood, before bowing slightly, brown hair falling in front of her eyes.

She paused for a moment.

Kakashi glanced at her, curious.

"I can see how Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura got so strong," Hanabi said to him, smiling; her cheeks were a little red. "You're a really good teacher, Hokage-sama."

Hanabi expected a lot of things, but she did not expect him to… chuckle.

"I wish I could take credit for how strong they've become," Kakashi murmured. "But I'm afraid, for the most part, they got there on their own."

She frowned. "Didn't they train under the sannin?" asked Hanabi.

"Correct." Kakashi gave her a nod of approval. "But the sannin could only take them so far. Even after Jiraiya-sama, Orochimaru, and Tsunade-sama were done with those three, however, they were only A rank at best. Perhaps Sasuke was close to S rank, but close at that level is as meaningless as a kunai made of paper. It was their own deeds, determination, and accomplishments that propelled them to the levels that they are now." Kakashi chuckled. "And a healthy amount of luck, too."

"Luck?"

"Well, perhaps luck isn't the _best_ word," Kakashi said. "Especially for Sasuke, I'd say."

Hanabi's face glowed with curiosity. "What word would you use instead…?" she questioned.

Kakashi leaned back slightly, a calm look upon his face.

"Let's just say…" Kakashi began. "That more than anything, Sasuke wishes that he _didn't_ have the power that makes him as strong as he is. That's why luck is a poor choice of words for him."

Her frown deepened.

"Why not?" She asked. "Why wouldn't he want that kind of power?"

Kakashi raised a palm. "That is between the two of you," he said. "I've already said far too much. Any more, and I'm afraid Sasuke's already fragile trust in me will evaporate."

It never paid to dangle like that in front of Hanabi's face. Because, well, _now_ she was interested.

"Alright," Hanabi murmured. "Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama."

"Don't mention it," Kakashi said. "As I said, feel free to come back whenever you need help."

"I will." She bowed slightly. "Farewell, Hokage-sama."

Hanabi turned and made her exit.

The gears in her head were turning.

' _If he won't tell me what he meant about Sasuke-sensei's power,'_ she thought. _'Then who will?'_

The answer, by all metrics, was obvious.

* * *

"Uh—sorry, that's not something Sasuke would want me tellin' ya."

He rubbed his neck, a genuinely apologetic look upon his face. But the tone he'd used in that one sentence had been firm enough for Hanabi to realize that she wasn't going to convince him no matter how hard she tried.

"Is it really that serious, Naruto?" Hanabi asked.

The blonde grimaced. "It is," he said. "Sasuke would never forgive me if I just told anybody that kind of stuff. Even you. That's something you'll have to learn from the man himself—when the time's right."

Her eyes flickered with… something. Naruto couldn't quite place it; all he knew was that he most definitely did not like it.

"Alright—if you can't tell me, then that's fine," Hanabi said lightly. "Thanks for your time, Naruto."

She turned to walk. But, in the blink of an idea, Naruto had appeared in front of her, cutting her off. He crouched down so that he was eye level with her.

"Listen," he whispered. "I don't like to do this sort of thing, but I guess I've got to. Sasuke's still in a fragile place, Hanabi… there's only a couple of things that could set him off, but this is one of them. He's on thin ice with the villages as it is—we can't afford for something to crop up. Okay?"

She paused for a moment, processing that information.

"Okay." Hanabi nodded slightly.

"Awesome," Naruto said, clapping her on the shoulder. "See ya, Hanabi."

"See you."

* * *

With Kakashi's help, she managed to get the rest of the jutsu down in no time. It was hard—casting the jutsu burned her chakra reserves like nothing else. But she could do it, and that was all that mattered.

It was three days after she'd went to go meet Kakashi in his office.

Darkness had fallen outside of her room. Though every light was turned on in her room, it could do little to reduce the imposing effect of the cloudy night; not even the moon was visible.

She stared at the blank parchment in front of her. An unreadable look was in her white eyes.

Hanabi took a deep breath.

She picked up the pen and began to write.

' _Sasuke,'_

' _I've learned the jutsu, as you asked. I got a little stuck on it, but Hatake Kakashi helped me as you said he would. You can go ahead and send me the next jutsu whenever you want.'_

She paused.

' _He and I were talking a bit, and he said something I found curious.'_

Her hand shook slightly. Was this a good idea? Probably not.

' _He said that, "More than anything, (you) wish (you) didn't have the power that makes you as strong as you are." I'm not really sure what he meant by that, and he wouldn't tell me. Neither would Naruto.'_

' _Do you know what they're talking about?'_

Five minutes later, the letter was on its way. Hanabi watched as the bird vanished into the darkness.

A chill went down her spine. That night, she left all the lights in her room as, even as she crawled beneath the covers of her bed.

She rolled over, staring at the wall. And she tried to get some sleep.

'Tried' being the key word.

What had made Kakashi and Naruto so reluctant to tell her about Sasuke's 'power'?

More important than that—had she just made an enormous mistake by asking Sasuke what it was they were going on about?

It seemed she'd just have to wait and find out.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I can't promise when the next chapter will come out. Just, rest assured, that I have no intention of discontinuing this story.**

 **Hopefully, y'all will have enjoyed this chapter after you're through reading it. Please be sure to leave a review, I really do appreciate them. I can't stress enough that _you_ _guys_ are what make my stories worth writing, and every little bit of feedback I get from you guys is just awesome.**

 **If you'd like to talk to me, feel free. There's two main ways: you can message me on FanFiction, or you can email me. My email is bige2955 at gmail. I'll respond to every message I get, within reason, so don't feel discouraged.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. As always, have an awesome day!**


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